One passport was then issued to cover the whole group. If the applicant was to be accompanied by his wife, children, servants, or other females under his protection, their names, ages, and relationship to the applicant were stated on the passport application. It is unknown how many American citizens traveled abroad with passports issued by state or judicial authorities prior to 1856 or without any passport prior to 1918.Īlthough 95 percent of mid-19th century passport applicants were men, many women also traveled overseas. For example, statistics show that the State Department issued 130,360 passports between 18, more than 369,844 between 18, and more than 1,184,085 between 19. citizens who returned to their homelands to visit relatives. Overseas travelers included businessmen, the middle class, and naturalized U.S. The Department of State has issued passports to American citizens traveling abroad since 1789, but did not have sole authority to do so until August 23, 1856, when Congress passed an act (11 Statutes at Large 52, 60) prohibiting other governmental entities, such as state and judicial authorities, from issuing passports.įoreign travel in the nineteenth century was much more frequent than one might expect. Department of State has passport applications from April 1925 to the present. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has passport applications from October 1795-March 1925 the U.S. Passport applications can be an excellent source of genealogical information, especially about foreign-born individuals.
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