What was the legal status of the Chinese in america in the early to mid 19th century.

by gameguy56

There were over 100,000 Chinese Americans in 1880, however my understanding of US naturalization law at that time is that only white or black persons could be citizens. Was there a specific status for Chinese workers? Before the Wong Kim Ark case were there any Chinese citizens of America at all?

Georgy_K_Zhukov

More of course can be said, but these two threads, by /u/asiaexpert and /u/keyilan , talk about 19th c. Chinese-American experience so may be of use for you. - I, II.