ALL FLAGS DAY
Before borders.
Before the United States.
Before immigration laws.
There were already people here.
America did not come from one people, one language, or one story.
Follow the storyTHE ROADMAP
BEFORE 1492
MILESTONE 01 OF 18
MILESTONE 01
BEFORE 1492
Long before the United States existed, Indigenous peoples lived across North America in many distinct nations, cultures, languages, and communities.
America’s story did not begin with immigration.
MILESTONE 02
1565
St. Augustine, Florida became the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States.
MILESTONE 03
1607
English colonists established Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in what became the United States.
MILESTONE 04
1619
Africans were brought to English Virginia after being captured and forced across the Atlantic.
This was not voluntary immigration.
Some Americans came by choice. Others were brought here by force.
MILESTONE 05
1776
The United States declares independence. This is the moment the country officially begins.
MILESTONE 06
1848
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo transferred a vast amount of Mexican territory to the United States.
Mexican families were already living throughout these lands. Those who remained were given the opportunity to become U.S. citizens and promised protections for their liberty, property, and civil rights.
For many families, they didn’t cross the border. The border crossed them.
MILESTONE 07
1865
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.
MILESTONE 08
1882
The Chinese Exclusion Act sharply restricted Chinese immigration.
America’s immigration history includes both opportunity and exclusion.
MILESTONE 09
1886
The Statue of Liberty is dedicated. It later becomes one of America’s most recognizable symbols of liberty and immigration.
MILESTONE 10
1892
Millions of immigrants would pass through Ellis Island while building new lives in America.
MILESTONE 11
1924
Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act.
The first peoples of this land had to wait generations for the United States to recognize them as citizens.
MILESTONE 12
1929–1940s
During the Great Depression, Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans became targets of mass repatriation campaigns.
Hundreds of thousands — and by some historical estimates roughly 2 million people of Mexican descent — were removed, pressured, or coerced into leaving the United States. Many were U.S. citizens. Families were separated and communities were disrupted.
Some American citizens were sent to a country they had never called home.
MILESTONE 13
1942
More than 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated during World War II. Many were American citizens.
Citizenship did not always protect Americans from discrimination based on their ancestry.
MILESTONE 14
1942–1964
Through the Bracero Program, the United States recruited Mexican workers to help fill critical labor shortages. Millions of labor contracts were issued during the program.
America depended on Mexican labor while Mexican communities also faced discrimination and removal.
MILESTONE 15
1946
Mexican-American families challenged the segregation of children of Mexican descent in California schools through Mendez v. Westminster.
Mexican Americans didn’t just inherit American rights. They helped fight to make those rights real.
MILESTONE 16
1954
The federal government conducted a large-scale deportation campaign targeting undocumented Mexican immigrants.
MILESTONE 17
1965
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 ended the old national-origins quota system.
Immigration opportunities expanded for families and people from Asia, Latin America, Africa, southern Europe, and other parts of the world.
MILESTONE 18
1988
The United States formally apologized to surviving Japanese Americans who had been incarcerated during World War II and provided compensation.
Part of loving a country is being willing to recognize when it failed to live up to its own principles.
SCROLL THE ROAD · ARROW KEYS TO TRAVEL
BEFORE 1492
Long before the United States existed, Indigenous peoples lived across North America in many distinct nations, cultures, languages, and communities.
America’s story did not begin with immigration.
1565
St. Augustine, Florida became the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States.
1607
English colonists established Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in what became the United States.
1619
Africans were brought to English Virginia after being captured and forced across the Atlantic.
This was not voluntary immigration.
Some Americans came by choice. Others were brought here by force.
1776
The United States declares independence. This is the moment the country officially begins.
1848
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo transferred a vast amount of Mexican territory to the United States.
Mexican families were already living throughout these lands. Those who remained were given the opportunity to become U.S. citizens and promised protections for their liberty, property, and civil rights.
For many families, they didn’t cross the border. The border crossed them.
1865
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.
1882
The Chinese Exclusion Act sharply restricted Chinese immigration.
America’s immigration history includes both opportunity and exclusion.
1886
The Statue of Liberty is dedicated. It later becomes one of America’s most recognizable symbols of liberty and immigration.
1892
Millions of immigrants would pass through Ellis Island while building new lives in America.
1924
Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act.
The first peoples of this land had to wait generations for the United States to recognize them as citizens.
1929–1940s
During the Great Depression, Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans became targets of mass repatriation campaigns.
Hundreds of thousands — and by some historical estimates roughly 2 million people of Mexican descent — were removed, pressured, or coerced into leaving the United States. Many were U.S. citizens. Families were separated and communities were disrupted.
Some American citizens were sent to a country they had never called home.
California later formally apologized for its role in these removals and coerced emigration.
1942
More than 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated during World War II. Many were American citizens.
Citizenship did not always protect Americans from discrimination based on their ancestry.
1942–1964
Through the Bracero Program, the United States recruited Mexican workers to help fill critical labor shortages. Millions of labor contracts were issued during the program.
America depended on Mexican labor while Mexican communities also faced discrimination and removal.
1946
Mexican-American families challenged the segregation of children of Mexican descent in California schools through Mendez v. Westminster.
Mexican Americans didn’t just inherit American rights. They helped fight to make those rights real.
1954
The federal government conducted a large-scale deportation campaign targeting undocumented Mexican immigrants.
1965
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 ended the old national-origins quota system.
Immigration opportunities expanded for families and people from Asia, Latin America, Africa, southern Europe, and other parts of the world.
1988
The United States formally apologized to surviving Japanese Americans who had been incarcerated during World War II and provided compensation.
Part of loving a country is being willing to recognize when it failed to live up to its own principles.
TODAY
