Post #3634974

2026-07-06 18:44 UTC

Until the 1900s, most national borders were the same as any other political borders, like the borders of towns, cities, or provinces: administrative boundaries that demarcate administrative authority. Militarized borders were rare and considered despotic, with Tzarist Russia as an example.

Replies (1)

@PallasRiot@social.treehouse.systems 2026-07-06 19:03

In the US, citizenship was granted by the states until the 14th amendment was passed, but *generally* the way things worked for most of US history is that you just....came here. And if you wanted citizenship, and you could meet the (often racial) requirements of the state you settled in, you could register your arrival with the state and then a few years later you were a citizen. The idea that someone immigrating to the US would have to go through a system of military checkpoints and years of inscrutable bureaucracy would have been as absurd as the idea that your town today would pull you over at gunpoint as you tried to enter and make you file special paperwork with town hall in order to avail yourself of the town's Denny's and underwhelming pet supply store.

Open ##3634972