Worcester vs. Georgia1832By Stephanie Cran

Background Information• In the 1820s and 1830s, Georgia conducted a relentless campaign to remove

Cherokees who held territory within the boundaries of Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee.

• During this same time, the Cherokees had established a constitutional government, not only restructuring their government but also declaring to the American public that they were a sovereign nation that could not be removed without their consent.

• The furious Georgia legislature passed a series of laws establishing their jurisdiction over the Cherokees living within the state boundaries, annexing Cherokee lands, abolishing their government, and seizing Cherokee land to be distributed among the state’s white citizens; they even helped shove through Congress the Indian Removal Act which gave President Jackson the authority to negotiate removal treaties with the Native American Tribes

• The Cherokee refused to move and filled a lawsuit with the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of Georgia’s laws, stating they violated their sovereign rights as a nation and illegally infringed on their treaty with the United States

• In the ruling of Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia, the court stated it didn’t have the power to strike down Georgia laws; however, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that the Cherokees constituted a "domestic, dependent nation" that existed under the guardianship of the United States.

Background Information on Worcester• Was a native of Vermont serving as a minister affiliated

with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM)

• Was sent by the board to join its Cherokee mission in Brainerd, Tennessee in 1825

• Then ordered to the Cherokee capital of New Echota, Georgia in 1827 where he began working—along with many others—to translate the Bible and other materials into the Cherokee language

• Worcester soon became a close friend of the Cherokee leaders and advised them about their political and legal rights under the Constitution and federal-Cherokee treaties.

The Conflict • Georgia’s government soon realized the influence Worcester had on the Cherokee

resistance movement and enacted a law prohibiting white people from residing within the Cherokee nation without a license issued by the state

• All missionaries—including Worcester—were given until March 1, 1831 to obtain a license or leave the Cherokee Nation

• Worcester, Butler, and a few other missionaries refused to leave state, challenging the law

• On March 12, 1831, Georgia authorities arrested Worcester, Butler, and several other missionaries and teachers for violating the new law. • However, Worcester released when his lawyers argued that he served as federal postmaster at New

Echota and was therefore in the Cherokee Nation under authority of the federal government. • Governor Gilmer then persuaded the United States to relieve Worcester of his postmaster duties

before ordering the missionaries to leave the state

• Worcester, Butler, and several refused to vacate and on July 7, the Georgia Guard again arrested Worcester and Butler, and nine other missionaries. After posting bond Worcester relocated to the Brainerd mission, knowing if he stayed the governor would continue to harass him.

• The missionaries were tried in September, convicted, and sentenced to four years in prison at hard labor.

• The missionaries with lawyers hired by the Cherokee nation, appealed to the Supreme Court with the case Worcester vs. Georgia

The Court Case• The Participants• The Plaintiff:• Worcester, along with many other missionaries, with

aid of lawyers hired by Cherokee nation• The Defendant:• State of Georgia

The Court Case• The Argument:• Among other things, Worcester argued that the state

could not maintain the prosecution because the statue violated the Constitution, treaties between the Cherokee nation and the U.S., and an act of Congress entitled "an act to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes." The state of Georgia has no legal authority to pass laws regulating activities within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation, a nation recognized through treaties with the United States.

• The Issue:• Does the state of Georgia have the authority to regulate

the intercourse between citizens of its state and members of the Cherokee Nation?

The Court Case• The Decision:• The court rules that the Georgia act under which Worcester was

prosecuted, violated the Constitution, treaties, and laws of the United States.• Chief Justice Marshall argues that noting that the "treaties and laws

of the United States contemplate the Indian territory as completely separated from that of the states; and provide that all intercourse with them shall be carried on exclusively by the government of the union…the Cherokee nation, then, is a distinct community occupying its own territory in which the laws of Georgia can have no force. The whole intercourse between the United States and this nation, is, by our constitution and laws, vested in the government of the United States." The Georgia act thus interfered with the federal government's authority and was unconstitutional.• Georgia is ordered to release Worcester and the other missionaries.

The Significance• This ruling was one of three by Chief Justice Marshall since

1823, establishing the political standing of Indian tribes in the United States.

• The ruling recognized the sovereign (politically independent) status of tribes. As such, states did not have jurisdiction to pass laws regulating activities on Indian lands located within their state boundaries.

• The ruling reaffirmed tribal sovereignty, and became the basis for many Court decisions over the next 160 years, eventually helped lead to dramatic Indian economic recovery by the late twentieth century.

• Despite winning in Court, the Cherokee were still forced from their homeland by the federal government and resettled in Oklahoma.