Today is:



Constitution Day and Citizenship Day


This holiday commemorates the formation and signing on September 17, 1787, of the Constitution and recognize all who are born in the US or, by naturalization, have become citizens.(1)(3)

It is observed on 17 September, the day the United States Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in 1787.(1)  The day has also been known as Citizenship Day and I Am An American Day.  In 2004 a bill was passed officially naming the holiday as “Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.”(1)(3)

Naturalization from 1790 to 1906:
According to the FamilySearch Wiki:
“The first naturalization law was enacted in 1790. Over the years, naturalization laws changed numerous times, but generally speaking the process required a Declaration of Intention and a Petition to be filed to become a citizen (Except during the years 1798 to 1828). After 1906, several other documents were created during the naturalization process.”(2)

There were three steps to citizenship:
1.        Declaration of Intention:  These first papers were to renounce allegiance to foreign governments and to prove immigrant was living in the United States long enough to apply for citizenship.
2.       Petition:  To file for Petition, the immigrant had to wait between one to three years after the declaration of intent was filed.  This application was filed in a court nearest to the town where the immigrant was living.  An Oath of Allegiance was also signed to pledge the immigrant allegiance to the US and they had to sign a written oath.
3.       Certificate:  All the requirements were met and the immigrant was sworn in as a citizen and was then issued a certificate.  The certificate is given from the same court as where the petition was filed.  The certificate is called the Certificate of Citizenship or Certificate of Naturalization.



Source: 
(1) Wikipedia.org:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Day_%28United_States%29
(2)FamilySearch.org:  https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/United_States_Naturalization_and_Citizenship
(3)Library of Congress:  http://loc.gov/law/help/commemorative-observations/constitution-day.php

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