Worcester v. Georgia
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 20, 1832 Decided March 3, 1832
Full case name: Samuel A. Worcester, Plaintiff in Error v. The State of Georgia Citations: 31 U.S. 515; 8 L. Ed. 483 Prior history: Defendant convicted, Gwinnett County, Georgia Superior Court (Sept. 15, 1831) Subsequent history: None
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. Superior Court of Gwinnett County, Georgia reversed and remanded.
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: Johnson, Duvall, Story, Thompson Concurrence by: McLean Dissent by: Baldwin
Laws applied
U.S. Const. art. I

Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515 (1832), 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 impinge on the tribe's sovereignty. It is considered one of the most influential decisions in the area of law applicable to American Indians. 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. ... // The United States Reports, the official reporter of the Supreme Court of the United States Case citation is the system used in common law countries such as the United States, England and Wales, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Australia and India to uniquely identify the location of past court... Year 1832 (MDCCCXXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian 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... For other uses, see Cherokee (disambiguation). ... “Sovereign” redirects here. ...

Background

The Worcester case is highly significant in that it constituted a striking departure from the Supreme Court's earlier treatment of claims involving Native Americans. The majority opinion was in stark contrast to John Marshall's previous opinion in Johnson v. M'Intosh, where the Court held that the United States had the right to the title of the land within its boundaries, and that the Native Americans were but residents. It also differed significantly from Marshall's opinion in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, where the Court willingly ceded its jurisdiction over matters involving native tribes.^[1] However, the outcome that was apparently favorable to the claims of the Cherokee was precluded by a hostile Congress and the equally hostile President Andrew Jackson. Native Americans can refer to Native Americans in the United States, natives of the United States only; equivalent to American Indians in some contexts. ... For other persons named John Marshall, see John Marshall (disambiguation). ... Holding Native Americans have no claim to land in the United States. ... Cherokee Nation v. ... For other uses, see Andrew Jackson (disambiguation). ...

The Case

Georgia law required all whites living in Cherokee Indian Territory to obtain a state license. Seven missionaries refused to obey the state law, were arrested, convicted, and sentenced to four years of hard labor for violating the state licensing law. They appealed their case to the Supreme Court of the United States, arguing that the laws they had been convicted under were unconstitutional because states have no power or authority to pass laws concerning sovereign Indian Nations.

The missionaries, Samuel Austin Worcester and Elizur Butler, were targeted by Georgia because of their influence with and support of Cherokee resistance against removal. It was understood that, had they applied for state licenses to reside among the Cherokees, the licenses would have been denied. The Georgia state courts had previously been deferential to Worcester because of his federal appointment as postmaster to New Echota, the Cherokee capital. George Rockingham Gilmer, the governor of Georgia, personally persuaded the federal government to withdraw Worcester's appointment as postmaster and make him subject to arrest. Samuel Worscester, Cherokee Messenger. Samuel Austin Worcester (January 19, 1798 – April 20, 1859), was a missionary to the Cherokees, translator of the Bible, printer and defender of the Cherokees freedom. ... Indian Removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States that sought to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river. ... 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. ... The monument on New Echota Historic Site honored the Cherokees who died on the Trail of Tears. ... George Rockingham Gilmer (April 11, 1790 - November 16, 1859) was an American politician. ... The word federal in a general sense refers to the nature of an agreement between or among two or more states, nations, or other groups to merge into a union in which control of common affairs is held by a central authority created by and with the consent of the...

The court ruled that the Cherokee nation was a "distinct community" with self-government "in which the laws of Georgia can have no force, establishing the doctrine that the national government of the United States, and not individual states, had authority in Indian affairs.

Response to the Decision

In reaction to this decision, President Andrew Jackson has often been quoted as defying the Supreme Court with the words: "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!" Arguably because of a legal loophole, he had no grounds for becoming involved unless the Georgia courts formally defied the Supreme Court. That did not happen since Georgia simply ignored the ruling and refused to release Worcester from prison. What Jackson actually said was that "the decision of the supreme court has fell still born, and they find that they cannot coerce Georgia to yield to its mandate." Jackson's opponents criticized him for failing to act against Georgia, but even if he had wanted to intervene—and he did not—it is questionable whether he had any legal authority to do so (Prucha, p. 212).

Perhaps fearing the possibility of a showdown between the Supreme Court and the Executive, and realizing the real likelihood of Jackson refusing to adhere to the Court’s pro-Cherokee decision, the Justices did not follow the standard procedure of requiring federal marshals to carry out the decision.^[2] In doing so, the Supreme Court implicitly permitted Andrew Jackson not to carry out the decision, thus avoiding the possibility of a political conflict between two branches, while also retaining the pro-Cherokee decision of Worcester as good precedent for subsequent Supreme Courts and subsequent presidents.^[3]

There can be no question that Jackson was politically supportive of Georgia in its efforts to relocate the Cherokees. Despite winning their case in the Supreme Court, Worcester and Butler remained imprisoned until 1833, when a new governor, Wilson Lumpkin, persuaded them to accept pardons on condition that they would have nothing further to do with the Cherokees. Worcester and Butler were reluctant to accept pardons under such a condition but were eventually pressured to do so by the combined efforts of their lawyers, their missionary organization, and Governor Lumpkin. Wilson Lumpkin (January 14, 1783 - December 28, 1870) was a governor of Georgia, and a United States Representative and Senator. ... A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. ...

According to Richard Chused in Cases, Materials, and Problems in Property (1999), Worcester and Butler did return to the Cherokees. Further, they never accepted a formal pardon and they were not given one. Rather, they were released on a general proclamation issued in January 14, 1833.

Subsequent history

In 1835, a dissident faction of Cherokees signed a removal treaty, the Treaty of New Echota. Jackson actively lobbied the U.S. Senate to ratify the treaty in 1836, where it passed by one vote. In 1838, under President Martin Van Buren, this led to the forcible relocation by the U.S. Army of the Cherokees to Indian Territory (part of present-day Oklahoma) in what would become known as the Trail of Tears. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Martin Van Buren (December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862), nicknamed Old Kinderhook, was the eighth President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. ... Indian Territory in 1836 Indian Country redirects here. ... For the Norwegian musical group, see Trail of Tears (band). ...

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 31

This is a list of all the United States Supreme Court cases from volume 31: 31 U.S. (6 Pet. ...

References

• Prucha, Francis Paul. The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians, volume I. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984.
• Jean Edward Smith. John Marshall: Definer Of A Nation. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1996.
• Burke, "The Cherokee Cases: A Study in Law, Politics, and Morality," 21 Stan.L.Rev. 500 (1969).

Jean Edward Smith is an accomplished educator and biographer having authored such works as Grant, John Marshall: Definer of a Nation, and Presently he is the John Marshall Professor of Political Science at Marshall University. ...

External links

• Full text of the decision & case resources from Justia & Northwestern-Oyez
• Full text of the decision courtesy of Findlaw.com
• Article in the New Georgia Encyclopedia