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Cherokee Nation v. Georgia

 

 
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Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
 
 
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Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, , was a United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
 case.

ecember 20, 1828, the state of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
, fearful that the United States would not effect (as a matter of Federal policy) the removal of the Cherokee Nation tribal band from their historic lands in Georgia; enacted a series of laws which stripped the Cherokee of its rights under the laws of the state, with the intention to force the Cherokee to leave the state.






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Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, , was a United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
 case.

Background

On December 20, 1828, the state of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
, fearful that the United States would not effect (as a matter of Federal policy) the removal of the Cherokee Nation tribal band from their historic lands in Georgia; enacted a series of laws which stripped the Cherokee of its rights under the laws of the state, with the intention to force the Cherokee to leave the state. In this climate, John Ross
John Ross (Cherokee chief)

John Ross , also known as Guwisguwi , was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Native Americans in the United States Nation from 1828-1860. Described as the Moses of his people, Ross led the Nation through tumultuous years of development, relocation to Oklahoma, and the American Civil War....
, 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 Jackson
Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States . He was List of governors of Florida 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 Clay
Henry Clay

Henry Clay, Sr. was a nineteenth-century United States statesman and orator who represented Kentucky in both the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate....
, Theodore Frelinghuysen
Theodore Frelinghuysen

Theodore Frelinghuysen was an United States politician, serving as New Jersey Attorney General, United States Senate, and Mayor of Newark, New Jersey before running as a candidate for Vice President of the United States with Henry Clay on the Whig Party ticket in U.S....
, and Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster

Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman during the nation's antebellum. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests....
 and Representatives Ambrose Spencer
Ambrose Spencer

Ambrose Spencer was an United States lawyer and politician....
 and David (Davy) Crockett
Davy Crockett

David Stern Crockett was a celebrated 19th-century United States folk hero, Frontier#American frontier, soldier and politician; referred to in popular culture as Davy Crockett and often by the popular title ?King of the Wild Frontier.? He represented Tennessee in the U.S....
. 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 Act
Indian Removal Act

The Indian Removal Act, part of a United States government policy known as Indian removal, was signed into law by President of the United States Andrew Jackson on May 26, 1830.-19), the U.S....
, which authorized the president to set aside lands west of the Mississippi
Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Deep South of the United States. Jackson, Mississippi is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Anishinaabe language word misi-ziibi ....
 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 Ross
John Ross (Cherokee chief)

John Ross , also known as Guwisguwi , was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Native Americans in the United States Nation from 1828-1860. Described as the Moses of his people, Ross led the Nation through tumultuous years of development, relocation to Oklahoma, and the American Civil War....
 selected William Wirt
William Wirt (Attorney General)

William Wirt was an United States author and statesman who is credited with turning the position of United States Attorney General into one of influence....
, attorney general in the Monroe
James Monroe

James Monroe was the List of Presidents of the United States 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 Adams
John Adams

John Adams was an Politics of the United States and the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , after being the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States for two terms....
 administrations, on the urging of Senators Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster

Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman during the nation's antebellum. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests....
 and Theodore Frelinghuysen
Theodore Frelinghuysen

Theodore Frelinghuysen was an United States politician, serving as New Jersey Attorney General, United States Senate, and Mayor of Newark, New Jersey before running as a candidate for Vice President of the United States with Henry Clay on the Whig Party ticket in U.S....
 to defend Cherokee rights before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Cherokee
Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native Americans in the United States people orginally from the Southeastern United States . They are linguistically connected to speakers of the Iroquoian language....
 nation asked for an injunction, claiming that Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
'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 States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, were a "denominated domestic dependent nation", over which the Supreme Court had no original jurisdiction
Original jurisdiction

The 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. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia

Worcester v. Georgia, Case citation , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Cherokee Native Americans were entitled to federal protection from the actions of state governments which would infringe on the tribe's sovereignty....
 later ruled that Georgia could not impose its laws upon Cherokee tribal lands.

See also



External links