the history of "Passports"

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

One of the earliest references to passports was made in about 450 B.C. Nehemiah asked permission of Artaxerses to travel to Judah. The King agreed and gave Nehemiah a letter "to the governors of the province beyond the river" requesting safe passage for him as he travelled through their lands.

The United States began issuing passports during the American Revolution, before the war was won, but after independence was declared.  The design of the first U.S. passport was created by Benjamin Franklin, and consisted of a sheet of paper that was printed on one side with a description of the person who bore it.  These initial passports were issued by American consular officials and were typically valid for three to six months’ worth of travel.

After the war, the US Department of State began issuing passports. However, states, and even some notaries, were allowed to issue them, too. Sometimes, passports were even issued by states for people to visit other states.  This was most frequently used among free African Americans in northern states who wished to visit relatives in southern slave states, to ensure they would not be mistaken for runaway slaves and imprisoned during their travels.  States and notaries issued passports for foreign travel, too. However, the many different types of passports issued in the United States caused confusion with foreign countries.

Some foreign countries refused to acknowledge passports from American citizens that were issued by states or notaries unless those passports were also endorsed by the State Department.  Other countries accepted any passport an American presented them.  This inconsistency with the issuing and acceptance of passports led Congress to give the State Department the sole authority to issue passports in 1856.

Before 1862, Canadians didn't need a passport to enter the United States, but to travel to Europe, a Canadian had to obtain a British passport from the Foreign Office in London.  In 1926, Canada required all its passports to be bilingual, in English and French.

The U.S. itself had no passport requirement for citizens to leave the country until after WWII.  Passports were issued solely for Americans traveling to countries where a passport was required for entry. There were brief periods of passport requirements for citizens to leave the United States, which occurred during the Civil War and WWI, but otherwise, citizens were free to travel without one as long as their destination country would let them in without one.

At the outbreak of WWII in 1941, passports began to be required to leave the United States.  The requirement to have them to re-enter the United States was made into law in 1978.  

(compiled from data at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/games/teachers-corner/history-passports.asp and http://www.ancestralfindings.com/history-of-the-us-passport-application/?awt_l=7FcNk&awt_m=3ctHgXt1r.VMXng )