Denizenship (qv)

" It is not necessary, in my view of the matter, to discuss the
question how far a free man of color [meaning a black who was
not a slave] may be a Citizen, in the highest sense of the
word -- that is, one who enjoys in the fullest manner all the
JURA CIVITATIS under the Constitution of the United States...
Now free people of color are not ALIENS, they enjoy
universally (while there has been no express statutable
provision to the contrary) the rights of Denizens... How far
a political STATUS may be acquired is a different question,
but his civil STATUS is that of a complete Denizenship."

- Hugh S. Legare, Attorney General of the United States, in
["Pre-Emption Rights of Colored Persons"], 4 OPINIONS OF THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL 147, at 147 (March, 1843).