The City of London and the Controversy over Immigration, 1660–1722

From the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 to the middle of the eighteenth century a protracted controversy took place over whether foreigners ought to be encouraged to come to settle in England. The debate was usually couched in terms of whether aliens should be offered naturalization in England. The word naturalize was sometimes used not in a technical legal sense, but in the first sense given in Johnson's Dictionary : ‘to adopt into a community’. In its stricter sense, the question was whether a cheap and convenient way should be offered to immigrants to acquire the rights of native-born English subjects. It was thought by both its advocates and its enemies that such an offer, by means of an act of general naturalization, would encourage a large influx of foreign protestants. The issue was debated repeatedly in parliament. Over a dozen attempts were made to pass an act for a general naturalization between the Restoration and the final passage of such an act in 1709. The act of 1709 was repealed only three years after its passage, but several more bills for a similar statute were introduced towards the middle of the century. The naturalization controversy is more easily followed, however, in the pages of the tracts, pamphlets, treatises, and broadsides, both in favour of and in opposition to a general naturalization, that tumbled from the presses throughout the period, and most profusely in the 1680s, 1690s, and 1700s. The debate aroused the interest especially of the growing ranks of those who, after the Restoration, interested themselves in trade matters

Alien · Citizenship · Deportation · Immigration · Naturalization · Opposition (politics · Parliament · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Statute · Toleration · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History · Law · Scottish History and National Identity

• Chattel Property Rules and the Construction of Englishness, 1660–1800

  Open Access•Susan Staves•Law and History Review•1994

  Incluir item

• A Politie of Civill & Military Power”

  Open Access•Philip J Stern•Journal of British Studies•2008

  Incluir item

• The number of Huguenot immigrants in England in the late seventeenth century

  Open Access•Robin Gwynn•Journal of Historical Geography•1983

  Incluir item

• A Note on General Naturalization under the Later Stuarts and a Speech in the House of Commons on the Subject in 1664

  Caroline Robbins•The Journal of Modern History•1962

  Incluir item

• Nationality and Citizenship Laws of the Commonwealth and of the Republic of Ireland

  F A Mann•International Affairs•1957

  Incluir item

• The poor Palatines and the parties

  H T Dickinson•The English Historical Review•1967

  Incluir item

• An Economic History of England, 1870-1939

  A J Youngson, W Ashworth•The Economic Journal•1961

  Incluir item

• The Constitution and Finance of English, Scottish, and Irish Joint-Stock Companies to 1720

  J H Clapham, W R Scott•The Economic Journal•1911

  Incluir item

• The City of London's Debt to its Orphans, 1694-1767

  Open Access•I G Doolittle•Historical Research•1983

  Incluir item

• A Fractured Society

  Tim Keirn, Gary Stuart De Krey•The Economic History Review•1987

  Incluir item

• The Breakdown of Gild and Corporation Control Over the Handicraft and Retail Trade in London

  John Kellett, J R Kellett•The Economic History Review•1958

  Incluir item

• The Price of Freehold Land in the Later Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

  Open Access•Christopher Clay•The Economic History Review•1974

  Incluir item

• Seventeenth Century Economic Documents

  Christopher Hill, Joan Thirsk et al.•The Economic History Review•1972

  Incluir item

• Alien Immigrants to England

  Open Access•William Cunningham•Population•1970

  Incluir item

• The Population History of England 1541-1871. A Reconstruction

  Open Access•E A Wrigley, Richard S Schofield•Population•1982

  Incluir item