Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, , was a
United States Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate...
case.
Background
On December 20, 1828, the state of
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
, fearful that the United States would not effect (as a matter of Federal policy) the removal of the
Cherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States...
tribal band from their historic lands in Georgia; enacted a series of laws which stripped the Cherokee of their rights under the laws of the state, with the intention to force the Cherokee to leave the state. In this climate,
John RossJohn Ross , also known as Guwisguwi , was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Native American Nation from 1828-1860...
, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation tribal band, led a delegation to Washington in January 1829 to resolve disputes over the non-payment of annuities to the Cherokee, and to seek Federal sustainment of the boundary between the territory of the state of Georgia and the Cherokee Nation's historic tribal lands within that state. Rather than lead the delegation into futile negotiations with
President JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . He was military governor of Florida , commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans , and eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy...
, Ross wrote an immediate memorial to Congress, completely forgoing the customary correspondence and petitions with the President.
Ross found support in Congress from individuals in the National Republican Party such as Senators
Henry ClayHenry Clay, Sr. was a nineteenth-century American statesman and orator who represented Kentucky in both the House of Representatives and Senate. He served as Secretary of State from 1825 to 1829....
,
Theodore FrelinghuysenTheodore Frelinghuysen was an American politician, serving as New Jersey Attorney General, United States Senator, and Mayor of Newark, New Jersey before running as a candidate for Vice President with Henry Clay on the Whig ticket in the election of 1844...
, and
Daniel WebsterDaniel Webster was a leading American statesman during the nation's Antebellum Period. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
, as well as Representatives
Ambrose SpencerAmbrose Spencer was an American lawyer and politician.-Life:He attended Yale College from 1779 to 1782, and graduated from Harvard University in 1783...
and
David (Davy) CrockettDavid Crockett was a celebrated 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician; referred to in popular culture as Davy Crockett and often by the epithet “King of the Wild Frontier.” He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas...
. Despite this support, in April 1829, John H. Eaton, the secretary of war (1829 - 1831) informed Ross that President Jackson would support the right of Georgia to extend her laws over the Cherokee Nation and in May 1830, Congress endorsed Jackson's policy of removal by passing the
Indian Removal ActThe Indian Removal Act, part of a United States government policy known as Indian removal, was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 26, 1830.-19), the U.S. House passed it on 26 May 1830 ; Francis Paul Prucha, The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians,...
, which authorized the president to set aside lands west of the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
to exchange for the lands of the Indian nations in the east.
When Ross and the Cherokee delegation failed in their efforts to protect Cherokee lands through negotiation with the executive branch and through petitions with Congress, Ross took the radical step of defending Cherokee rights through the U.S. courts.
The case
In June 1830, a delegation of Cherokee led by
Chief John RossJohn Ross , also known as Guwisguwi , was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Native American Nation from 1828-1860...
selected
William WirtWilliam Wirt was an American author and statesman who is credited with turning the position of United States Attorney General into one of influence.-Biography:...
, attorney general in the
MonroeJames Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . His administration was marked by the acquisition of Florida ; the Missouri Compromise , in which Missouri was declared a slave state; the admission of Maine in 1820 as a free state; and the profession of the Monroe Doctrine , declaring U.S...
and
AdamsJohn Adams was an American politician and the second President of the United States , after being the first Vice President for two terms. He is regarded as one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States.Adams came to prominence in the early stages of the American Revolution...
administrations, on the urging of Senators
Daniel WebsterDaniel Webster was a leading American statesman during the nation's Antebellum Period. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
and
Theodore FrelinghuysenTheodore Frelinghuysen was an American politician, serving as New Jersey Attorney General, United States Senator, and Mayor of Newark, New Jersey before running as a candidate for Vice President with Henry Clay on the Whig ticket in the election of 1844...
to defend Cherokee rights before the U.S. Supreme Court. The
CherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people from the Southeastern United States...
nation asked for an injunction, claiming that
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
's state legislation had created laws which, "go directly to annihilate the Cherokees as a political society". Wirt argued that "the Cherokee Nation [was] a foreign nation in the sense of our constitution and law" and was not subject to Georgia's jurisdiction. Wirt asked the Supreme Court to null and void all Georgia laws extended over Cherokee lands on the grounds that they violated the U.S. Constitution, United States-Cherokee treaties, and United States intercourse laws.
The injunction was denied, on the grounds that the Cherokee people, not being a state, and claiming to be independent of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, were a "denominated domestic dependent nation", over which the Supreme Court had no
original jurisdictionThe original jurisdiction of a court is the right to hear a case for the first time as opposed to appellate jurisdiction when a court has the right to review a lower court's decision...
. Although the Court determined that it did not have original jurisdiction in this case, the Court held open the possibility that it yet might rule in favor of the Cherokee on an appeal from a lower court.
The 1832 Supreme Court decision
Worcester v. GeorgiaWorcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 , was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that Cherokee Native Americans were entitled to federal protection from the actions of state governments which would infringe on the tribe's sovereignty.-The Case:Georgia law required all whites living in...
later ruled that Georgia could not impose its laws upon Cherokee tribal lands.