Expatriation Act of 1868

Not to be confused with the Expatriation Act of 1907 or the Enemy Expatriation Act of 2012.
Expatriation Act of 1868
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleAn Act concerning the Rights of American Citizens in foreign States
Enacted bythe 40th United States Congress
EffectiveJuly 27, 1868
Citations
Statutes at Large15 Stat. 223
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Frederick E. Woodbridge was a major proponent of the Expatriation Act of 1868

The Expatriation Act of 1868 was an act of the 40th United States Congress that declared, as part of the United States nationality law, that the right of expatriation (i.e. a right to renounce one's citizenship) is "a natural and inherent right of all people" and "that any declaration, instruction, opinion, order, or decision of any officers of this government which restricts, impairs, or questions the right of expatriation, is hereby declared inconsistent with the fundamental principles of this government".[1]

The intent of the act was also to counter claims by other countries that U.S. citizens owed them allegiance, and was an explicit rejection of the feudal common law principle of perpetual allegiance.[2]

The Expatriation Act of 1868 was codified at 25 Rev. Stat. § 1999, and then by 1940 had been re-enacted at 8 U.S.C. § 800.[3][4] It is now the last note to 8 U.S.C. § 1481.

  1. ^ Rice 2011, p. 51
  2. ^ Erler 2003, p. 191
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Yoo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ 7 FAM 1280, p. 14; the source does not specify the exact date of re-enactment