If you think we have unfair laws inflicted against us today, check into some of the laws our government has passed. One took away a woman’s citizenship if she married an alien or a citizen of another country. If a woman was a teacher she also lost her job if she married an alien. This was the law from the early 1900s into the 1940s. If an American-born man married a foreign woman nothing happened to his status as a citizen.

In 1907 a law was passed that stated women derived their citizenship from their husbands, regardless of where the women were born. It removed U.S. citizenship of a native-born female who married an alien husband and gave her the citizenship of her husband. These women were even denied the right to vote after the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920. The Married Women's Independent Citizenry Act of 1922 repealed the effects of the 1907 law but did not automatically restore citizenship to those who had lost it when they married.

By an act in June of 1936 (and a subsequent amendment in 1940 ) a form was provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service which allowed a woman to apply to regain her lost citizenship only after the death of, or divorce from, her husband. Over the next two decades, many of these "expatriate" citizens applied and regained their U.S. citizenship. They never regained their citizenship automatically. Some elderly women up into the1950s and 1960s finally applied to become naturalized citizens – even if they were born and lived their entire lives in the United States.

The Chinese Exclusion Law For Angel Island Immigrants

How many realize there were laws against the Chinese from entering the U. S. in California from 1882 to 1943? It was the “Chinese Exclusion Law.” Following the Gold Rush and the building of the intercontinental railroads, the Chinese were not well accepted on the west coast. Only a select few Chinese could enter America. Those that did arrive were put through long examinations and strict requirements.

Those immigrants were processed at a port called Angel Island. They were often held there for weeks or months in their attempt to be accepted onto U.S. soil. Many were even returned to their homeland. When the exclusion law was repealed in 1943 it still only accepted 105 Chinese immigrants a year into this country. Those who already lived here were finally allowed to apply for U.S. citizenship.

And Across The Pond

Because wool was a major commodity both in domestic use and in export. the English Parliament found a new way to make more money for the Kingdom. They passed the “Act for Burying in Woolen Law” on 25 March 1667. This law stated no one could be buried “in any stuff or thing other than what is made of sheep’s wool only and put into any coffin lined or faced with any material but sheep’s wool, on pain of forfeiture of £25.”

The only exception was for the very poor or those dying of the plague. They added to the law in 1678 requiring a notarized affidavit be brought to the minister within eight days of the burial and the fact be noted in the church parish register. Often times at the grave site the parish clerk would shout, “Who makes the affidavit?” A family member or close friend of the deceased would step forward and make a statement under oath, which was recorded in the Register.

Fines of £5 for not obeying the woolen law were thrust upon the grieving families by church wardens and overseers of the poor. Ministers had to report violators or they were fined an additional £5. Of course the very rich found a way around this law as they wanted to send off their dearly departed in silk robes or linen gowns. So they paid the fine of £5 upfront for the ability to override the law. The transaction of either silk or linen was also noted in the church register as was the fine they paid. Since they did not embalm at this time, the wool or silk meant very little after a short period in the ground.

At one time the Wool Tax was a considered law in the American colonies but it never took place. Instead of the Boston Tea party we might have had the “Boston Wool Party.” The Woolen Burying Law was finally repealed in 1814. Many church registers still contain the information on the woolen burials.