Hello, I am looking for resources on the history of identity documents in the United States such as passports and drivers licenses or state ID. I am writing a research paper examining these with special attention being paid to how these documents have been deliberately constructed and used as tools of exclusion. I have found some information about history of ID cards in the UK, but little in the United States (in the UK the first modern ID card was floated in the early 20th century and tied to war-time food rations).....
There are often onerous requirements to get an ID in the first place --- and over time groups of people have been excluded from certain access on that level. An area where I am having great trouble finding information relates to the development of the actual content of IDs over time. In some foreign locales government issued IDs include racial or religious markers in addition to sex which is present on most US identification --- any instances where these have also appeared in the United States would be appreciated, historical background or resources on how or why the markers we see on ID today evolved would be extremely useful.
Thank you!
