Daniel Defoe on Naturalization.

This essay examines Daniel Defoe's integration of naturalization as both a civic and literary-critical concept, highlighting how his advocacy for immigration reform and expanded legal citizenship shaped his political thought and literary works. Central to this analysis is Defoe's poem *The True-born Englishman* (1700), which challenged notions of English racial purity and supported the naturalization of foreign Protestants, particularly Huguenot refugees, as part of a moral and economic project to strengthen the nation. The essay traces Defoe's involvement in the campaign for the Foreign Protestants Naturalization Act (1709) and its repeal (1711), situating these debates within his broader efforts to use satire, journalism, and fiction—including his final novel *The Fortunate Mistress* (1724)—to explore the social, religious, and affective dimensions of citizenship. Defoe's dispute with John Toland over the limits of naturalization, especially regarding Jewish inclusion, further reveals tensions in early eighteenth-century conceptions of national identity, confessional affiliation, and the role of literature in shaping public attitudes toward belonging and assimilation.