Migration Without Movement

Abstract The growing borders of early America encompassed numerous tenuously affiliated migrants, who did not move but found themselves inside expanding national borders. These migrants presented a legal conundrum. Were they subject to the standard naturalization process or were they considered citizens due to the treaties incorporating the territory on which they resided? Debates originated with the 1794 Jay Treaty and reached their zenith with the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. The Jay Treaty debate established battle lines, but the small number of residents ensured tensions were subsumed into late 1790s politics. When Louisiana reinvigorated the debate, the larger population and racial diversity hampered arguments for treaty-based naturalization. The debate became amplified by concerns over the Haitian Revolution and was tainted with racist sentiment. The diversity of Louisiana proved an impediment to immediate naturalization until the War of 1812 marked the incorporation of the Purchase into the United States.