George Bancroft United States Secretary of Navy c

The Bancroft treaties, also called the Bancroft conventions, were a series of agreements made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and other countries. They recognized the right of each party's nationals to become

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

citizens Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

of the other; and defined circumstances in which naturalized persons were legally presumed to have abandoned their new citizenship and resumed their old one.

Origin

Named for historian and diplomat

George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internati ...

(1800–1891), who negotiated the first of these agreements with

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

, the Bancroft

treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...

were mainly intended to prevent individuals from using naturalization as a way to avoid military service and other legal obligations in their native countries. From 1868 to 1937, the United States entered into 25 Bancroft treaties covering 34 foreign countries. A typical Bancroft treaty had three major provisions. The first specified the terms under which each party would recognize the naturalization of its citizens by the other. (Five years' uninterrupted residence in the adopted country was the usual requirement.) The second provided that naturalized citizens who returned to their native country could be prosecuted for crimes that they allegedly committed before they emigrated. The third and most important provided that naturalized citizens who returned to their country of origin and stayed there for two continuous years would be presumed to have resumed their former nationality. That would require them to meet any unfulfilled military service obligation in their native country and deny them the

diplomatic protection In international law, diplomatic protection (or diplomatic espousal) is a means for a state to take diplomatic and other action against another state on behalf of its national whose rights and interests have been injured by that state. Diplomatic ...

of their adopted one. Article III of the 1908 treaty with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

was typical:

Constitutional infirmity

Conceived in an era when the right of individuals to change their citizenship was not universally recognized, the Bancroft treaties represented an important step forward in securing recognition by foreign governments of the right of their nationals to become American citizens. But American

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these prin ...

law eventually made the treaties obsolete. In ''

Schneider v. Rusk ''Schneider v. Rusk'', 377 U.S. 163 (1964), was a United States Supreme Court case which invalidated a law that treated naturalized and native-born citizens differentially under the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.. Background Angelika ...

'', 377 U.S. 163 (1964), the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

invalidated a section of the

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (), also known as the McCarran–Walter Act, codified under Title 8 of the United States Code (), governs immigration to and citizenship in the United States. It came into effect on June 27, 1952. Befor ...

(the McCarran-Walter Act) that would strip naturalized Americans of their citizenship after ''three'' years' continuous residence in their country of origin; and in '' Afroyim v. Rusk'', 387 U.S. 253 (1967), the Supreme Court, reviewing part of the Nationality Act of 1940, held that

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

has no power to strip anyone of their citizenship, whether it is acquired by birth or by naturalization. These decisions strongly suggested that any future case of involuntary loss of citizenship under one of the Bancroft treaties probably would not survive a Supreme Court challenge.

Termination of the Bancroft treaties

Concluding that the Bancroft treaties were unenforceable, the administration of President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

, acting in consultation with the

Senate Committee on Foreign Relations The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid p ...

, gave notice in 1980 terminating the treaties with 18 of the 21 countries with which they were still in force. The exceptions were the treaties with

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. The treaty with Albania was terminated in 1991 when Albania and the United States re-established diplomatic relations at the end of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

. The treaty with the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic as successor states to the former Czechoslovakia was terminated by the United States in 1997. U.S. Department of State: Treaties in Force as of January 1, 1997, p. 66 at col. 2.
. For the text of the treaty See In the last years of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

's Presidency the treaty with Bulgaria was terminated. Se
U.S. Department of State: Treaties in Force as of January 1, 2016, p. 50-52
an
U.S. Department of State: Treaties in Force as of January 1, 2013, p. 34 at col. 3.
See als
Treaties in Force 2014/2015 - Supplement
vi

Pursuant to Article 8 of the 194
Treaty of Peace with Bulgaria
the United States notified Bulgaria in 1948 of its intent to maintain the Bancroft (naturalization) treaty in force. See . For the full text in American English and in Bulgarian of the Bancroft Naturalization treaty with Bulgaria se
Naturalization Treaty between the United States and Bulgaria, signed November 23, 1923
vi
Foreign Relations of the United States at University of Wisconsin Digital Collections
or vi
Internet Archive

Termination by country

{, class="wikitable" , + Termination by countries , - ! Country !Date signed !Year Terminated !Termination , - , (Prussia) , {{flag, February 22, 1868 , 1917 , Never revived after First World War , - , {{flag, Bavaria , {{flag, May 26, 1868 , 1871 , Proclamation of the German Empire , - , {{flag, Mexico , {{flag, July 4, 1868 , , Terminated by Mexico , - , {{flag, Baden , July 19, 1868 , 1871 , Proclamation of the German Empire , - , {{flag, Württemberg , July 27,1868 , 1871 , Proclamation of the German Empire , - , {{flag, Hesse , August 1, 1868 , 1871 , Proclamation of the German Empire , - , {{flag, Belgium , November 16, 1868 , 1980 , Terminated by President Jimmy Carter , - , {{flag, Union between Sweden and Norway , May 26, 1869 , 1980 , Terminated by President Jimmy Carter , - , {{flag, Austro-Hungarian Empire , September 20, 1870 , 1917 , Never revived after First World War , - , {{flag, United Kingdom , February 23, 1871 , 1953 , Terminated by the United Kingdom, December 15, 1953 , - , {{flag, Denmark , July 20, 1872 , 1980 , Terminated by President Jimmy Carter , - , {{flag, Haiti , March 22, 1902 , 1980 , Terminated by President Jimmy Carter , - ,

Pan-American Conference The Conferences of American States, commonly referred to as the Pan-American Conferences, were meetings of the Pan-American Union, an international organization for cooperation on trade. James G. Blaine, a United States politician, Secretary ...

{{efn, The treaty was between the US and Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. , August 13, 1906 , , Several countries left the treaty , - , {{flag, El Salvador , March 14, 1908 , 1980 , Terminated by President Jimmy Carter , - , {{flag, Brazil , April 27, 1908 , 1951Decree no. 29200 of 24 January 1951
Government of Brazil {{in lang, pt. , Terminated by Brazil , - , {{flag, Uruguay , August 10, 1908 , 1980 , Terminated by President Jimmy Carter , - , {{flag, Portugal , May 7, 1908 , 1980 , Terminated by President Jimmy Carter , - , {{flag, Honduras , June 23, 1908 , 1980 , Terminated by President Jimmy Carter , - , {{flag, Peru , October 15, 1907 , 1980 , Terminated by President Jimmy Carter , - , {{flag, Nicaragua , December 7, 1908 , 1980 , Terminated by President Jimmy Carter , - , {{flag, Costa Rica , June 10, 1911 , 1980 , Terminated by President Jimmy Carter , - , {{flag, Bulgaria , November 23, 1923 , 2017 , Terminated by President Barack Obama , - , {{flag, Czechoslovakia , July 16, 1928 , 1997 , Terminated between

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and the

Slovak Republic Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

, - , {{flag, Albania , April 5, 1932 , 1991 , Terminated when Albania and the United States re-established diplomatic relations in 1991 , - , {{flag, Lithuania , October 18, 1937 , 1980 , Terminated by President Jimmy Carter

Notes

{{notelist

Notes and references

{{reflist, 30em

External links

*{{cite journal , last1=Walter, first1=Michael, year=1978 , title=The Bancroft Conventions: Second-Class Citizenship for Naturalized Americans , journal=

International Lawyer International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

, volume=12 , issue=4 , pages=825 , publisher=

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...

, url= http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/intlyr12&div=77&id=&page=, access-date=2 January 2013 *{{citation , last1=Boll, first1=Alfred M., year=2007 , title=Multiple Nationality and International Law , pages=185 , publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers , location=Leiden , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mr6Y45439A0C&q=bancroft+treaties&pg=PA185 , access-date=18 April 2013, isbn=978-9004148383 Treaties of the United States History of immigration to the United States Nationality treaties United States nationality law