Mr. President. immigration and naturalization laws developed in the 18th and 19th centuries with the spread of nationalism. Since the concept of the modern nation state goes back only to the Protestant Reformation. it is understandable that laws governing the movement of large numbers of people would come about only with the growth of this concept and the improvement of transportation facilities. The states of Europe which emerged from the religious schism had the effect of giving an identity to local populations which made up the whole of Christendom. The demise of the Holy Roman Empire and the diminished authority of the papacy brought about a strong sense of nationalism to the principalities of Europe and increased the temporal and spiritual authority of local princes. With the discovery of the Western Hemisphere and the improvement in transportation. the emigration of large populations became a matter of state policy for the first time. European countries bordering on the North Atlantic had a decided interest in colonizing their territorial claims in this hemisphere. The competition among the colonial powers further developed a sense of nationalism which spread to the Americas.
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naturalization immigration emigration