1492		Columbus sails from Spain to a landfall somewhere in the Caribbean and "stumbles" onto present-day America
	1565		The Spanish establish the settlement of Saint Augustine in present-day Florida, the oldest known settlement in North America
	1584		Sir Walter Raleigh sends ships to explore part of the east coast of America and establishes what he called "ia", named after the "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth, as a British claim
	1587		Roanoke Colony, the first English settlement in the New World, was first explored in 1584 and was considered suitable for a colony. In August of 1585, a colonizing expedition was sent out, but the immigrants encountered hostile Native Americas and suffered from serious food shortages. The first attempt to colonize Roanoke proved unsuccessful and the colony returned to England with Sir Francis Drake. In 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh organized a second expedition led by Captain John White, who sought to establish a permanent English settlement in America. White, accompanied by 121 colonists landed on Roanoke Island in July of 1587. Their original plan was to land on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, but the sailors refused to take them farther than the island. On August 18, White's daughter Eleanor, wife of Ananias Dare, gave birth to the first English child born in America. She was named Virginia Dare after their queen, Elizabeth. White returned to England in the summer of 1589 for additional supplies, however, fighting between England and Spain had delayed his return. When White returned to Roanoke around 1590 or 1591, there was no trace of the colonists. The only clue left to their whereabouts was the word Croatan carved into a tree, which suggests that the colonist left the colony with friendly Croatan Indians and were eventually absorbed into the tribe. This belief is reinforced by the fact that a group of Indians now living in North Carolina call themselves Croatans and often have English names.
	1598		The Spanish establish the colony of New Mexico in present-day southwestern U.S.
	1604		The French establish Acadia in present-day Canada
	1607		Virginia Company establishes Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement
	1608		The French found Quebec in present-day Canada
	1619		Originally, slaves have been used in America by the Spanish since the beginning of the 1500's. In 1619, when a Spanish ship sent a cargo of Africans to colonial Jamestown, Africans were used as indentured servants, serving a master for sevens years, then freed. Many became farmers themselves acquiring African servants for their own use. Though as greed came into play over the next few decades, there developed a worldwide desire for slavery, and planters in the New World who wanted a steady labor force could see the major benefits of slave labor. To accommodate to the demand for slavery, Virginia adopted new laws in 1650, establishing that Africans arriving in new cargoes would be servants for life, as would their children and their children's children.
	1620		Immigration to New England begins with the migration of Pilgrims who establish Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts
	1623		Dutch settlers begin the colony of New Netherlands as an outpost of the Dutch West India Company in present-day New York (1624?)
	1626		The Dutch found the colony of New Amsterdam in what is now New York City
	1629		A large amount of English Puritans with a charter and a mission to set up a Puritan commonwealth establish a settlement on the Massachusetts Bay. Nearly 20,000 English immigrants arrive within the next decades which is a part of the Great Migration
	1638		The Swedes establish the colony of New Sweden in present-day Delaware
	1654		The first Jewish immigrants to America arrive in New Amsterdam as refugees from a Dutch colony in South America. Specifically Sephardic Jews, they were originally forced out of Spain by the Spanish Inquisition
	1655		The Dutch absorb New Sweden
	1660		This was the end of a significant English migration to the Puritan Massachusetts Bay colony. Immigration is officially discouraged hereafter
	1664		The Dutch loose all their North American colonies to the British
	1683		The first Germans arrive on the Concord and settle in Pennsylvania
	1718		The British Parliament prohibits immigration of skilled workers from the British Isles and the French found New Orleans as the capital of their vast and sparsely settled Louisiana colony
	1775		An outbreak of revolutionary violence stops immigration from Britain
	1790		Congress passes an act requiring two years residency in the U.S. before qualifying for citizenship
	1795		The residency period required for citizenship is raised from two years to five
	1798		The Alien and Sedition Acts consists of four laws, the Naturalization Act, the Alien Act, the Alien Enemies Act, and the Sedition Act. The Naturalization Act raised the time of residency for naturalization from five to 14 years and the Alien Act allowed the president to arrest and deport any alien considered dangerous. These two acts were aimed largely at Irish immigrants and French refugees who had participated in political activities critical of the Adams administration. The Alien Enemies Act allowed for the arrest and deportation of subjects of foreign powers at war with the U.S. Last, the Sedition Act made it a criminal offense to print or publish false, malicious, or scandalous statements directed against the U.S. government, the president, or Congress, to foster opposition to the lawful acts of Congress, or to aid a foreign power in plotting against the United States.
	1800		Alien Act, one of the four Alien and Sedition, expires
	1802		Naturalization Act, one of the four Alien and Sedition Acts, repealed
	1848		Approximately 4,000 Germans leave Germany because of political upheaval that sweeps through Central Europe
	1862		Congress passes the first law restricting immigration with the 1862 law forbidding American vessels to transport Chinese immigrants to the U.S.
	1882		The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in order to prevent an excess of cheap labor in the U.S. and provided the deportation of those who were adjudged illegal residents. The act froze the population of the Chinese community leaving its sex ratio highly imbalanced. For more than half a century, the Chinese lived in an essentially bachelor society where old men always outnumbered the young. Three years before, the previous president had vetoed a similar law completely restricting all immigration of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. A year after the end of his term, the new president passed the Chinese Exclusion Act.
	1891		The Immigration and Naturalization Service was created to administer the federal laws relating to the admission, exclusion and deportation of aliens and to the naturalization of aliens lawfully residing in the U.S. The INS investigates the qualifications of applicants for citizenship and provides public schools with textbooks and other materials required for the schooling of those applying for citizenship. Also, agents of the service patrol the borders of the U.S. to prevent the illegal entry of aliens.
	1892		The INS opens an immigration screening station at Ellis Island
	1907		The U.S. and Japan sign the Gentleman's Agreement ensuring that the Japanese government will not issue passports to Japanese laborers intending to enter the U.S. Under the Gentleman's Agreement, the U.S. refrained from enacting any laws excluding Japanese immigrants until 1924
	1917		The Immigration Act of 1917 not only expanded the classes of foreigners excluded from the U.S., but created the Asiatic Barred Zone, a geographical region covering most of eastern Asia and the Pacific islands from which no immigrants were to be admitted into the U.S. The law also imposed a literacy test and aliens who were unable to meet the minimum mental moral, physical, and economic standards were excluded, as were anarchists and other subversives, from the U.S.
	1918		Congress passes the Anarchist Act of 1918 which expands the provisions for the exclusion of subversive aliens
	1921		A quota system, the maximum number of persons admitted into a nation, was first introduced in 1921, after World War II when increases in racism and the growth of segregation sentiment in the U.S. called for further restrictive immigration. The terms of the 1921 quota system prohibited no more than 3 percent of the number of foreign-born residents of that nationality living in the U.S. in 1910. The law applied to the nations of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Asian Russia, and certain islands in the Atlantic and Pacific.
	1924		The quota system was changed in 1924 and was based on the desirability of various nationalities. For example, immigrants from northern and western Europe were consider much more desirable than those of southern and eastern Europe and more adapt to "fit in." Consequently, countries like Great Britain, Germany, and Ireland were given generous quotas, while nations like Russia, the source of most Jewish immigrants, and Italy were cut back. Almost all Asian were excluded from the U.S.
	1941		Congress passes an act that refuses visas to foreigners whose presence in the U.S. might endanger public safety
	1943		Such events as the Chinatowns turning from crime and drug ridden places to quiet, colorful tourist attractions, well-behaved and school conscientious Chinese children being welcomed by public school teachers, and China becoming allies with the U.S. during World War II, all paved the way for the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act. As immigration from China resumed, mostly female immigrants came, many, wives of Chinese men in the U.S. Many couples were reunited after decades apart.
	1945		The War Brides Act, a federal law passed in 1945, authorizes the limited admission of the wives and children of citizens honorably discharged or serving in the U.S. armed forces during World War II, without regard to quotas or other standards
	1946		A federal law of 1946 authorizes the admission of persons of races indigenous to India to the U.S. under an annual quota
	1948		The Displaced Persons Act of 1948 permits, before July 1 of 1950, the immigration to the U.S. of 202,000 European displaced persons, people driven form their homes in the years preceding World War II as a result of political or racial persecution and those forcibly transported form their homes during World War II
	1952		The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 incorporates most of the existing laws relating to immigration including two major changes: the Asiatic Barred Zone which banned most Asian immigrants since 1917 was abolished and people from all nations are given the opportunity to enter the U.S.
	1953		The Refugee Act of 1953 makes an additional allocation of places for the victims of the war disaster
	1965		Amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act abolishes the nation-origin quotas and establishes an annual limitation of 170,000 visas for immigrants in the eastern hemisphere
	1968		A law effective in 1968 limits 120,000 immigrants annually from the western hemisphere with visas on a first come first serve basis
	1977		An amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act abolishes separate quotas for the western and eastern hemispheres changing the quota to 290,000 immigrants worldwide annually with a maximum of 20,000 for any one country
	1980		The Refugees Act of 1980 reduces the worldwide quota to 270,000 immigrants
	1986		The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 allows most illegal aliens who have reside in the U.S. continuously since January 1 of 1982 to apply for legal status and prohibits employers from hiring illegal aliens and mandates penalties for violations
	1990		The Immigration Act of 1990 sets an annual ceiling of 700,000 immigrants per year to enter the U.S. for the next three years and an annual ceiling of 675,000 per year for every year after
	1996		The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act makes it easier to deport aliens attempting to enter the U.S. without proper documents
	1630 - 1640		The Great Migration applies to the period of time during the 1630's when Massachusetts's population sky rocketed with the migration of approximately 21,000 immigrants to New England, about a third of them being Britons. Though history has labeled the Great Migration as a Puritan movement, there were clearly many other motives, not necessarily religious, which caused these thousands of immigrants to flock to New England. Other reasons for migration include attractive information about New England, the anxiety about the future in England, the desire to advance the gospel in Indians, the want for adventure, the desire to join earlier immigrants, land and opportunity in New England, the desire of economic prosperity, and the influence of ministers, family and friends, and recruiters. Although, Puritan influences in New England were very strong, especially with the establishment of large Puritan colonies like Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay during that time.
	1840 - 1920		During these years, approximately 37 million immigrants, the greatest influx ever, entered the U.S.
	1885, 1887, 1888, 1891		Alien Contract Labor Laws of 1885,1887, 1888 and 1891 prohibit immigrants from entering the U.S. to work under contracts made before their arrival
	1875, 1882, 1892		The additional immigration laws of 1875, 1882 and 1892 passed by Congress provides examinations of immigrants and the exclusion of convicts, polygamists, prostitutes, persons suffering from loathsome or contagious diseases, and persons liable to become public charges
	1892 - 1954		Ellis Island is open as a screening station for incoming immigrants