List of United States Federal Legislation

Please see the legal disclaimer if you are looking for legal advice.

At the federal level in the United States, legislation consists primarily of Actss passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. Secondary legislation is also made by the President (primarily Executive Orders), and by other individuals or bodies (e.g. the US federal courts issue Practice Directions).

Some notable Acts of Congress:

1789 - Judiciary Act
1789 - Hamilton Tariff
1791 - First Bank of the United States
1798 - Alien and Sedition Acts
1806 - Cumberland Road
1807 - Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves
1807 - Embargo Act
1809 - Non-Intercourse Act
1810 - Macon's Bill Number 2
1816 - Second Bank of the United States
1817 - Bonus Bill
1820 - Missouri Compromise
1828 - Tariff of Abominations
1833 - Force Bill
1836 - Gag Rule
1846 - Wilmot Proviso
1846 - Walker tariff
1849 - Gold Coinage Act
1850 - Compromise of 1850
1854 - Kansas-Nebraska Act
1861 - Morrill tariff
1862 - Homestead Act
1862 - Pacific Railway Act
1862 - Morrill Land Grant Colleges Act
1863 - National Banking Act
1864 - Wade-Davis Bill
1865 - Freedman's Bureau
1866 - Civil Rights Act
1867 - Congressional Reconstruction Act
1867 - Tenure of Office Act
1872 - Amnesty Act
1872 - Yellowstone National Park opens
1875 - Resumption Act
1878 - Bland-Allison Act
1878 - Posse Comitatus Act
1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act
1883 - Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
1887 - Dawes Act
1887 - Interstate Commerce Act
1887 - Hatch Act
1890 - Sherman Antitrust Act
1890 - Sherman Silver Purchase Act
1890 - McKinley tariff
1894 - Wilson-Gorman tariff
1894 - Income Tax
1897 - Dingley tariff
1900 - Foraker Act
1900 - Gold Standard Act
1902 - Newlands Reclamation Act
1903 - Elkins Act
1906 - Hepburn Act
1906 - Pure Food and Drug Act
1906 - Meat Inspection Act
1907 - Gentlemens Agreement
1908 - Aldrich Vreeland Act
1909 - Payne-Aldrich tariff
1910 - Mann-Elkins Act
1910 - Mann Act
1913 - Federal Reserve Act
1913 - Underwood tariff
1914 - Federal Trade Commission Act
1914 - Clayton Antitrust Act
1916 - Adamson Railway Labor Act
1916 - Federal Farm Loan Act
1917 - Espionage and Sedition Acts
1917 - Trading with the Enemy Act (PL 65-91)
1920 - Volstead Act
1920 - Esch-Cummins Act
1921 - Emergency Quota Act
1922 - Fordney-McCumber tariff
1924 - Immigration Act Basic Law
1924 - Indian Reorganization Act
1929 - Immigration Act National Origins Formula
1929 - Agriculture Marketing Act
1930 - Hawley-Smoot tariff
1932 - Norris-LaGuardia Act
1932 - Reconstruction Finance Corporation
1933 - Agricultural Adjustment Act
1933 - Civil Works Administration
1933 - Civilian Conservation Corps
1933 - Farm Credit Administration
1933 - Home Owners Loan Corporation
1933 - Tennessee Valley Authority
1933 - Public Works Administration
1933 - National (Industrial) Recovery Act
1934 - Communications Act
1934 - Glass Steagal Act
1934 - Securities and Exchange Commission
1934 - Federal Housing Administration
1934 - Johnson Act
1934 - Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act
1934 - Tydings-McDuffie Act
1935 - Works Progress Administration
1935 - Neutrality Act
1935 - Motor Carrier Act
1935 - Social Security Act
1935 - National Labor Relations Act
1936 - Robinson Patman Act
1937 - Neutrality Acts
1938 - Wheeler-Lea Act
1938 - Fair Labor Standards Act
1939 - Hatch Act
1939 - Cash and Carry
1940 - Selective Service Act
1940 - Alien Registration (Smith) Act
1941 - Lend Lease Act
1942 - Office of Price Administration
1944 - GI Bill of Rights
1947 - Presidential Succession Act
1945 - Bretton Woods Agreement PL 79-171
1947 - Aid to Greece and Turkey (See Truman Doctrine) PL 80-75
1947 - Taft-Hartley Act
1947 - National Security Act
1948 - Foreign Assistance Act (Marshall Plan) PL 80-472
1950 - National Science Foundation Act PL 81-507
1950 - McCarran Internal Security Act
1951 - Mutual Security Act
1952 - Immigration and Naturalization Act
1952 - Mine Safety Act PL 82-552
1954 - Saint Lawrence Seaway Act
1956 - Interstate Highway Act
1957 - Civil Rights Act PL 85-315
1958 - National Defense Education Act
1958 - Military Construction Appropriation Act (Advanced Research Projects Agency) PL 85-852
1959 - Landrum-Griffin Act
1960 - Civil Rights Act PL 86-449
1961 - Peace Corps
1962 - Trade Expansion Act
1962 - Communications Satellite Act PL 87-624
1963 - Equal Pay Act PL 88-38
1964 - Civil Rights Act PL 88-352
1964 - Full Employment Act
1964 - Great Society Programs
1964 - Urban Mass Transportation Act PL 88-365
1965 - Medicare Amendments to Social Security
1965 - Medicaid
1965 - Voting Rights Act PL 89-110
1965 - Immigration Act
1966 - United States Department of Transportation established PL 89-670
1967 - Age Discrimination Act PL 90-202
1967 - Public Broadcasting Act
1968 - Open Housing Act PL 90-284
1969 - Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act PL 91-173
1970 - Bank Secrecy Act
1970 - Occupational Safety and Health Act PL 91-596
1970 - Controlled Substances Act
1970 - Rail Passenger Service Act (Amtrak) PL 91-518
1970 - National Environmental Protection Act
1970 - Postal Reorganization Act (USPS) PL 91-375
1970 - Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
1972 - Equal Employment Opportunity Act PL 92-261
1972 - Federal Advisory Committee Act PL 92-463
1973 - Rehabilitation Act PL 93-112
1974 - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
1976 - Government in the Sunshine Act
1976 - Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act PL 94-210
1978 - Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act
1978 - Airline Deregulation Act
1980 - Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund
1980 - Refugee Act
1980 - Staggers Act PL 96-448
1981 - Kemp-Roth Tax Cut
1984 - Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act PL 98-435
1986 - Age Discrimination in Employment Act PL 99-572
1986 - Tax Reform Act of 1986
1986 - Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act
1986 - Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act
1986 - Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 (Defense Reorganization)
1987 - Surface Transportation Act
1987 - Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 - Public Law 100-107
1990 - Americans with Disabilities Act PL 101-336
1990 - Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act Human Genome Project funding PL 101-508
1991 - Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act PL 102-240
1996 - Communications Decency Act
1996 - Telecommunications Act of 1996
1998 - Digital Millennium Copyright Act
1998 - Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act
1998 - Financial Services Modernization Act
2001 - USA PATRIOT Act
2002 - Sarbanes-Oxley Act
2002 - U.S. Trade Promotion Authority Act
2003 - Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act

Some famous Executive Orders:

1836 - Specie Circular

For more detailed legislative histories in specific domains, see the Related Legislation sections of the following pages:

Table of contents

1 Departments and Agencies
2 Legislation
3 Concepts