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Marie (Petersen) and Christian A (C.A.) Christensen
about the time of their marriage in 1904.
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The United States is a
"Nation of Immigrants," in a phrase popularized by a 1958
book written by then-Senator John F. Kennedy. From colonial times
until now, waves of people have come to this land seeking to make a
better life for themselves and their families. It must be
acknowledged that these waves dispossessed the Native peoples who had
lived in North America for thousands of years, and that hundreds of
thousands of others were brought here against their wills to be
enslaved.
Many Americans celebrate
their immigrant ancestries and honor the contributions their
forebears have made to building the country in which we live. The
ugly side of the story is that each wave of immigrants were met with
prejudice, stereotypes, and discriminatory laws and social treatment.
According to the editors of
History.com
"Between 1880 and 1920, a time of rapid industrialization and
urbanization, America received more than 20 million immigrants....The
peak year for admission of new immigrants was 1907, when
approximately 1.3 million people entered the country legally."
My great-grandparents, Marie
(Petersen) Christensen, and her husband, Christian Andrew (C.A.)
Christensen were part of this wave and found themselves caught up in
the backlash.
Marie was born in Racine,
Wisconsin, on 27 February 1883, to Danish immigrants Robert and Karen
Petersen. Marie was granted citizenship by birthright, a privilege
extended by the 14th Amendment to all people born in the
United States or its territories. C.A. Christensen was born in
Denmark in 1881 and came as a child in 1888 to Wisconsin with his
parents, Jens and Caroline. He would remain a Danish citizen until
such time as he would complete the Naturalization process.
It is unlikely that Marie
and C.A. gave much thought to the citizenship implications of their
marriage in January 1904. I believe they were more focused on where
they would live and how they would support the family they hoped to
build together.
Although it may seem
surprising today, there was a time in the United States when the
citizenship of a married woman was tied to the citizenship of her
husband. This principle was embodied in federal law when the U.S.
Congress passed the Expatriation Act of 1907, which stated
that "any American woman who marries a foreigner shall take the
nationality of her husband."
According to Meg Hacker, of
the U.S. National Archives:
If an American woman married a foreigner before 1907 and the married
couple continued to reside in the United States, she did not, because
of her marriage, cease to be an American citizen. The American
woman remained a U.S. citizen even after her marriage to a non-U.S.
citizen.
Even
though Marie and C.A. were married in 1904, they apparently believed
that she had lost her citizenship by marrying a Danish citizen. They
must have been relieved when Congress passed the Cable
Act of 1922 (approved
22 September 1922, it was also known as the Married Women's
Citizenship Act or the Women's Citizenship Act).
Both Marie and C.A. petitioned to become naturalized American
citizens – in Marie's case, she petitioned to have her birthright
citizenship restored – in August 1924.
The section of Marie's petition form where she was to declare her
intention to become a citizen of the United States was crossed
out...
and covered by the following typescript statement:
Marie's
United States Citizenship was restored on 27 February 1925. Here is
her Certificate of Naturalization:
C.A. was granted citizenship in February 1925 at the same time as Marie, but that's another story...
Sources:
"Cable Act of 1922", Immigration History, a project
of the Immigration and Ethnic History Society (2019); web page
(https://immigrationhistory.org/item/cable-act/
: Accessed 30 May 2022).
Hacker,
Meg, "When Saying "I Do"
Meant Giving Up Your U.S. Citizenship", Prologue
(Spring 2014), U.S. National Archives and Records Administration,
College Park, Maryland; digital article
(https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/prologue/2014/spring/citizenship.pdf
: Accessed 29 May 2022).
History.com
editors, "U.S. Immigration
Before 1965", History,
A&E Television Networks (10 September 2021);digital article
(https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/u-s-immigration-before-1965
: Accessed 29 May 2022).
"Expatriation Act of 1907", Immigration History, a
project of the Immigration and Ethnic History Society (2019); web
page
(https://immigrationhistory.org/item/an-act-in-reference-to-the-expatriation-of-citizens-and-their-protection-abroad/
: Accessed 30 May 2022).
“Naturalization Records, 1853-1943”, Waupaca County, Wisconsin,
Clerk of Courts. Petitions, 1921-1925, Waupaca Series 16, Volume 9,
Petition No. 879, Filed 2 August 1924, Marie Petersen Christensen;
digital images, FamilySearch.org, “Wisconsin County Naturalization
Records, 1807-1992”,
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZXSV-NXN2 :
30 May 2022) image nos. 246-250. (Viewing the image of Marie's
petition requires a free-of-charge FamilySearch.org account)
“Naturalization Records, 1853-1943”, Waupaca County, Wisconsin,
Clerk of Courts. Petitions, 1921-1925, Waupaca Series 16, Volume 9,
Petition No. 866, Filed 1 March 1924, Christian Andrew Christensen;
digital images, FamilySearch.org, “Wisconsin County Naturalization
Records, 1807-1992”,
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZZMK-5Q2M
: accessed 30 May 2022), image nos. 206-209. (Viewing the image of
C.A.'s petition requires a free-of-charge FamilySearch.org account)
Wikipedia contributors, "Cable Act," Wikipedia, The Free
Encyclopedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cable_Act&oldid=1084647817
(Accessed May 30, 2022).