List of United States federal legislation

This is a partial list of notable United States federal legislation, in chronological order. At the federal level in the United States, legislation (a.k.a. "statutes" or "statutory law") consists exclusively of Acts passed by the Congress of the United States (and its predecessor, the Continental Congress), which were either signed into law by the President or passed by Congress after a presidential veto.

Legislation is not the only source of regulations with force of law. However, most executive branch regulations must originate in a congressional grant of power. See also: Executive orders of the President; regulations of Executive branch departments and administrative agencies; and the procedural rules of the federal courts.

"Public Laws"

Acts of Congress are published in the United States Statutes at Large. Today, Acts of Congress are designated in the form: Public Law X-Y where X is the number of the ordinal Congress and Y is the number of the chronological order of the Act in that Congress. For example, the Help America Vote Act, Public Law 107-252, was the 252nd Act of the 107th Congress. Furthermore, many statutes have also been codified into the United States Code. Where known, Acts below will be listed with their common names and Public Law (or "PL") number.

1780s

Continental Congress

1785 - Land Ordinance of 1785
1787 - Ordinance of 1787: The Northwest Territorial Government ("Northwest Ordinance")

First United States Congress

1789 - An act to regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths 1 Stat. 23
1789 - Judiciary Act of 1789 1 Stat. 73
1789 - Hamilton Tariff

1790s

1800s

1801 - Judiciary Act of 1801
1802 - Judiciary Act of 1802
1802 - Enabling Act of 1802
1806 - Cumberland Road
1807 - Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves
1807 - Embargo Act
1809 - Non-Intercourse Act

1810s

1820s

1830s

1830 - Indian Removal Act
1833 - Force Bill
1836 - Gag Rule

1840s

Twenty-seventh Congress

1841 - Bankruptcy Act of 1841

Twenty-eighth Congress

Twenty-ninth Congress

1846 - Wilmot Proviso
1846 - Walker tariff

Thirtieth Congress

Thirty-first Congress

1849 - Gold Coinage Act

1850s

1860s

1861 - Morrill tariff
1861 - Revenue Act of 1861
1862 - Homestead Act
1862 - Pacific Railway Act
1862 - Morrill Land Grant Colleges Act
1862 - Revenue Act of 1862
1862 - Militia Act
1863 - False Claims Act
1863 - National Banking Act
1863 - Enrollment Act
1865 - Freedman's Bureau
1866 - Civil Rights Act of 1866
1866 - Judicial Circuits Act
1867 - Reconstruction Act of 1867
1867 - Tenure of Office Act
1869 - Judiciary Act of 1869 (Circuit Judges Act of 1869) (16 Stat. 44)

1870s

1871 - Force Act of 1871
1871 - Ku Klux Klan Act
1872 - Practice Conformity Act (precursor to the Rules Enabling Act)(June 1, 1872, ch. 255, 17 Stat. 196)
1872 - Amnesty Act
1872 - Mining Act of 1872
1872 - Yellowstone Act
1873 - Comstock Act
1873 - Fourth Coinage Act
1875 - Resumption Act
1875 - Civil Rights Act of 1875
1878 - Bland-Allison Act
1878 - Posse Comitatus Act (June 18, 1878, ch. 263, §15, 20 Stat. 152)
1878 - National Quarantine Act

1880s

1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act
1883 - Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
1887 - Dawes Act
1887 - Interstate Commerce Act
1887 - Hatch Act

1890s

1890 - Sherman Antitrust Act, (ch. 647, 26 Stat. 209, 15 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.)
1890 - Sherman Silver Purchase Act (ch. 708, 26 Stat. 289)
1890 - McKinley tariff (ch. 1244, 26 Stat. 567)
1894 - Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act (ch. 349, §73 et seq., 28 Stat. 570, 15 U.S.C. § 8 et seq.)
1897 - Dingley tariff (ch. 11, 30 Stat. 151)
1898 - Bankruptcy Act of 1898 (ch. 541, 30 Stat. 544)