Trump v. Barbara · ¶112

Do not miss this context. Throughout the mid-19th century, Chinese immigrants to America were often portrayed as “‘coolies,’” a racist slur implying indentured servitude and allegiance to a Chinese master. Some Members of Congress brought that sentiment to the Civil Rights Act’s citizenship-related debates. Notably focusing his attention beyond freed former slaves, Senator Edgar Cowan, for example, argued that German immigrants’ children born in Pennsylvania should be citizens, but Chinese immigrants’ children should not—because Germans and Chinese were different.In response, Senator Trumbull emphasized that the law he had drafted drew no such distinctions.

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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