Promoting Immigration in the Old Washington Territory

Donald Trump was in Washington state talking about his “beautiful” wall. He wants to construct one between the U.S. and Mexico. No discussion yet of building a barrier along our northern border, but if you build just one wall, won’t people just find a way around it?

 

The United States used to want to promote immigration, and one way of doing that was allowing immigrants to vote. The old Washington Territory was one of those places, and it was a priority.

 

In 1853, the newly minted Washington Territory incorporated what is now the states of Washington, Idaho, western Montana and a slice of Wyoming. Immigration—especially by white folks—was encouraged. In 1854 the legislature met in Olympia to pass the new territory’s founding laws, and the first part of the very first law they passed outlined the qualifications for people voting in the territory. Voting was for “white male inhabitants over the age of twenty-one years, who shall have resided within this territory for three months” prior to the election. No women, no non-whites (with one possible exception), no insane people, traitors or felons. It was pretty standard for the time.

 

There was also a provision that said “American half-breed Indians” who were judged to have “adopted the habits and customs of civilization” were not to be automatically precluded from voting. It didn’t mean they could vote, they would have to pass muster with election “judges.” Still, this provision probably made sense since many white male settlers took Native American “wives” and produced male children who they raised.

 

But here’s the interesting part: you didn’t actually have to be a U.S. citizen to vote in Washington in those days. The law said of voters “That they shall be citizens of the United States, or shall have declared, on oath, their intentions to become such.” They had to have lived in the territory for three months, and only 15 days in the county in which they intended to vote. White people could show up from wherever and vote almost immediately, citizen or not.

 

Non-citizen voting used to be pretty common in the United States into the late 19th century. It is still discussed today. In this election cycle, the emphasis is on keeping immigrants out, but as recently as last year, there was much discussion of allowing legal U.S. non-citizen residents to vote, just as they pay taxes. There are nearly nine million permanent legal non-citizens out there who could become citizens, or who, arguably, could be added to the voter rolls.

 

Some have argued that allowing legal residents to vote would incentivize folks who are eligible to become U.S. citizens by engaging them in the democratic process. But Trump’s talk of the wall seems to have provided an incentive for eligible residents to become citizens. Some one million people are expected to apply for naturalization this year—about 200,000 more than usual. The Latino community is especially energized. “We want to become citizens so we can vote against Trump,” one man who intends to become a citizen said.

 

The idea of legal immigrants being able to vote is controversial, but it didn’t used to be. Some 40 states allowed it during the 19th century, back when it was seen as necessary to building the country, not building walls.