Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided March 18, 1831
Full case name: The Cherokee Nation v. The State of Georgia Citations: 30 U.S. 1; 8 L. Ed. 25; 1831 U.S. LEXIS 337
Holding
The Supreme Court did not have original jurisdiction under Article III of the Constitution to hear a suit brought by the Cherokee Nation, which as an Indian tribe, was not a sovereign nation.
Court membership
Chief Justice: John Marshall Associate Justices: William Johnson, Gabriel Duvall, Joseph Story, Smith Thompson, John McLean, Henry Baldwin
Case opinions
Majority by: Marshall Joined by: McLean Concurrence by: Johnson Concurrence by: Baldwin Dissent by: Thompson (joined by Story)
Laws applied
U.S. Const. art. III

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. 1 (1831), was a United States Supreme Court decision. Image File history File links Seal_of_the_United_States_Supreme_Court. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the... For other persons named John Marshall, see John Marshall (disambiguation). ... Categories: People stubs | U.S. Supreme Court justices | 1771 births | 1834 deaths ... Gabriel Duval (1752 - 1844) was a U.S. jurist. ... American jurist Joseph Story Joseph Story (September 18, 1779 - September 10, 1845), American jurist, was born at Marblehead, Massachusetts. ... Smith Thompson (January 17, 1768 - December 18, 1843) was a United States Supreme Court Associate Justice from 1823 until his death in 1843. ... John McLean (March 11, 1785 – April 4, 1861) was an American jurist and politician who served in the United States Congress, as U.S. Postmaster General, and as a justice on the Ohio and U.S. Supreme Courts. ... Henry Baldwin (January 14, 1780 - April 21, 1844) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from January 18, 1830, to April 21, 1844. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Article Three of the United States Constitution Article Three of the United States Constitution establishes the judicial branch of the federal government. ... Leopold I 1831 (MDCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the...

Background

On December 20, 1828, Georgia, fearful that the United States would be unable to effect the removal of the Cherokee Nation, enacted a series of laws which stripped the Cherokee of their rights and were intended to force the Cherokee to move. In this climate, John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, led a delegation to Washington in January 1829 to resolve disputes over non-payment of annuities and the boundary between Georgia and the Cherokee Nation. Rather than lead the delegation into futile negotiations with President Jackson, Ross wrote an immediate memorial to Congress, completely forgoing the customary correspondence and petitions with the President. is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1828 (MDCCCXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Alternate meanings: Cherokee (disambiguation) The Cherokee are a people native to North America who first inhabited what is now the eastern and southeastern United States before most were forcefully moved to the Ozark Plateau. ... For other persons named John Ross, see John Ross (disambiguation). ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see Andrew Jackson (disambiguation). ...

Ross found support in Congress from individuals in the National Republican Party such as Senators Henry Clay, Theodore Frelinghuysen, and Daniel Webster and Representatives Ambrose Spencer and David (Davy) Crockett. Despite this support, in April 1829, John H. Eaton, 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, which authorized the president to set aside lands west of the Mississippi to exchange for the lands of the Indian nations in the east.-1... For his namesake son, see Henry Clay, Jr. ... Theodore Frelinghuysen (1787–1862) Theodore Frelinghuysen (March 28, 1787–April 12, 1862) was a American politician, serving as New Jerseys 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... Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852), was a leading American statesman during the nations antebellum era. ... Ambrose Spencer (December 13]], 1765 - March 13, 1848) was a United States Representative and New York State Attorney General. ... Colonel David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was a celebrated 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician; usually referred to as Davy Crockett and by the popular title King of the Wild Frontier. He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the... John Henry Eaton (June 18, 1790–November 17, 1856) was an American politician from Tennessee. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Leopold I 1831 (MDCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 (MDCCCXXX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The Indian Removal Act, part of a U.S. government policy known as Indian Removal, was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

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 selected William Wirt, attorney general in the Monroe and Adams administrations, on the urging of Senators Daniel Webster and Theodore Frelinghuysen to defend Cherokee rights before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Cherokee nation asked for an injunction, claiming that Georgia'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. Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 (MDCCCXXX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... For other persons named John Ross, see John Ross (disambiguation). ... William Wirt (November 8, 1772 – February 18, 1834) was an American author and statesman who is credited with turning the position of United States Attorney General into one of influence. ... For other persons named James Monroe, see James Monroe (disambiguation). ... For other persons named John Adams, see John Adams (disambiguation). ... Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852), was a leading American statesman during the nations antebellum era. ... Theodore Frelinghuysen (1787–1862) Theodore Frelinghuysen (March 28, 1787–April 12, 1862) was a American politician, serving as New Jerseys 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... For other uses, see Cherokee (disambiguation). ...

The injunction was denied, on the grounds that the Cherokee people, not being a state, and claiming to be independent of the United States, were a "denominated domestic dependent nation", over which the Supreme Court had no original jurisdiction. 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. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The 1832 Supreme Court decision Worcester v. Georgia later ruled that Georgia could not impose its laws upon Cherokee tribal lands. Holding States were not permitted to redraw the boundaries of Indian lands or forbid residence in those territories, because the Constitution granted sole authority to Congress to regulate relations with sovereign Indian tribes. ...

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 30

This is a list of all the United States Supreme Court cases from volume 30 of United States Reports: Cherokee Nation v. ...

External links

• Full text of the decision courtesy of Findlaw.com