Here’s a Lincoln law I’d not heard of before – the Act to Encourage Immigration.  In this day and age of war, open borders, and refugees, there’s a timely exhibition being mounted by the Soldier’s Home.

Abraham Lincoln signed the Act to Encourage Immigration into law on July 4, 1864. The act was the first — and only — law to encourage immigration into the United States, as opposed to trying to control immigration. The American by Belief exhibit at the Lincoln Cottage museum gives a look at the immigration issue of the 1860s and balances it against today’s immigrations issues — and how similar the reasons for immigration were then and today. The museum was created in 2008, in a partnership with the Nationa

Source: In Petworth, an ode to immigrants – The Washington Post