This website is the creation of students in the Worcester State University History / Political Science class HI/PO 320 “Citizen Nation.” The course is taught every election year fall, during which students explore aspects of American citizenship past and present. Their essays represent individual research projects, written for a general audience. Each briefly covers a topic and suggests some further reading. For comments or questions, feel free to get in touch with the course instructor, Dr. Tona Hangen.
Site Map
Activism and Protest
- American Popular Response in the Insular Cases 2018
- Black Lives Matter 2020
- Civic Engagement 2014
- Citizens United 2022
- “Clear and Present Danger”: Schenck v. US and the Suppression of Free Speech in Wartime 2022
- Freedom of Speech in America 2022
- Music in Citizen Activism 2018
- North Dakota Pipeline Protests 2016
Gender, Race, and Citizenship
- 1849 California Constitutional Convention: A Question of “Race” 2022
- Annexation of Hawaii: A Cultural Transition 2016
- Black Citizenship 2018
- Colfax Massacre 2014
- Environmental Racism in the Flint Water Crisis 2020
- Equal Rights Amendment 2016
- High School Citizenship Test 2020
- How Land Allotment on Native Reserves Hinders Tribes’ Economic Development 2022
- Indian Removal 2018
- Islamophobia and American Policy 2018
- Islamophobia in Contemporary US Culture 2016
- Japanese Internment: The Greatest Generation? 2014
- Jim Crow Laws, Slavery and White Supremacy 2016
- Evolution of Federal Policies Applied to Native Americans 2014
- Navajo Code Talkers and the Immigration Act of 1924 2014
- Nineteenth Century Women’s Sphere: A Life of Expected Dependence 2016
- Racism in Hiring 2014
- Racism in the U.S. Military 2020
- Sovereign Bodies: Native Women and the Indian Health Service 2020
- The Journey to Native American Citizenship 2016
- Torres v. Puerto Rico (1979) 2016
- United States v. Cruikshank (1879) 2016
- Voting Rights on the American Frontier 2022
Immigration History
- 1994 Balseros Crisis 2014
- 19th Century Immigration and Mortality in Massachusetts 2014
- 9/11 and its Impact on US Immigration 2016
- Asian Exclusion Act and Repeal 2016
- Chinese Immigration 2014
- Citizen Benefits 2014
- Entering America: Ellis Island 2016
- Hart-Cellar Act of 1965 2014
- Irish Immigration 2020
- Korean Immigration 2018
- McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 2016
- Postville ICE Raid, 2008 2018
- Sanctuary Cities 2018
- Effect of the Mexican-American War on Mexicans in US Territory 2016
- The History and Process of Taking the US Citizenship Test 2016
Immigration Today
- Accompanying the Unaccompanied 2014
- A Look at the Past, Present, and Future of DACA 2022
- American Samoa: Second-Class Citizens 2016
- Border Wall Under Trump Administration 2020
- COVID-19 and American Citizenship 2020
- For the Love of the Game 2016
- Gender-Based Violence Among Women Seeking Asylum in the U.S. 2020
- ICE Enforcement and Citizenship 2018
- Immigration Deportation 2018
- Immigration Reform: Undocumented Youth, Immigration Reform, and US Public Policy 2014
- Immigration Visa Process and Restrictions 2018
- Lack of Public Safety in Haiti Pushes Illegal Immigration to the U.S. 2022
- Mexican Cartel Implementing US Policy 2016
- Migrant Camps and Immigration Policies During the COVID-19 Pandemic 2020
- Naturalizing Economic Growth 2014
- Possible Impending Immigration Policies of the 2016 President Election 2016
- Poverty and Violence Pushing Waves of US Immigration 2014
- Remain in Mexico Policy 2020
- Unaccompanied Minors: America: Have our Values Changed? 2014
- Unaccompanied Minors: Humanitarian Crisis of Our Generation 2016
- Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Program 2018
- US Border: Open or Closed? 2014
The Constitution
- Corporate Citizenship: The Hobby Lobby Case 2014
- Is the USA a Country? 2018
- Modern Day Implications of the 13th Amendment 2016
- Nomination of a Supreme Court Justice During an Election Year 2020
- Puerto Rican Statehood 2016
- Puerto Rico: State or Territory? 2020
- Ratification of the Articles of Confederation 2016
- Terms and Conditions Apply: Constitutional Rights in Wartime 2022
- USA PATRIOT Act 2016
Voting
- Attracting More Voters 2014
- A Brief History of Vote-Casting 2014
- Centennial of Women’s Suffrage 2020
- Does One Vote Really Make a Difference? 2020
- Felon Disenfranchisement: A History 2016
- Gerrymandering in the US 2016
- How Did Televised Debates Influence the Election Outcome in 2012? 2016
- How the Attack on Benghazi Shaped Political Propaganda 2022
- MA Ballot Question #4 2014
- Mail-in Voting 2020
- North Dakota Native American Voter Disenfranchisement 2018
- Race, Socioeconomics, and the Prison Industrial Complex 2014
- The 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum 2014
- The Fall of President Trump and His Refusal to Concede 2020
- The Secret Ballot: A Political Paradigm Shift 2014
- Undermining the Democratic Voting Process in the United States 2022
- Voting Rights and the Physically Disabled 2018
- Voting Rights in American Territories 2016
- Who Really Won the 2018 Georgia Governor Election? 2020
- Why (And How) to Vote 2020