Court case
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
The Court dismissed the Cherokee Nation's suit against Georgia, calling tribes 'domestic dependent nations' rather than foreign states.
- Citation
- 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1 (1831)
- Court
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Year
- 1831
- Nations
- Cherokee Nation
- Treaty at issue
- Treaty of Hopewell (1785) and later Cherokee treaties
- Effect on land rights
- mixed
What happened
Georgia had passed a law to extend its laws over the territory occupied by the Cherokees and to annul all laws and ordinances made by the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Nation asked the Supreme Court for an injunction to stop Georgia from carrying out these acts. It claimed it could sue in the Court as a "foreign state," under the Constitution's grant of jurisdiction over controversies between a state and a foreign state. The reported arguments discuss the Cherokees' treaties with the United States, including the Treaty of Hopewell of 1785, which they say allowed the Cherokees "to send a deputy of their choice" to Congress.
Chief Justice Marshall's opinion held that the Cherokee Nation is not a foreign state in the sense the Constitution uses the term, so the Court could not hear the case. Tribes, he wrote, "may more correctly perhaps be denominated domestic dependent nations." They occupy a territory to which the United States asserts a title "independent of their will," and "their relation to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian." The opinion did not take up the merits of the controversy between Georgia and the Cherokees.
Later opinions kept the language. In United States v. Kagama (1886), the Court called Marshall's opinions in this case and in Worcester v. Georgia "perhaps the best statement" of the tribes' position.
Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Well supported by the sources below.
The Cherokee nation is not a foreign state, in the sense in which the term "foreign state" is used in the constitution
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1 (1831) (U.S. Reports, Library of Congress)They may more correctly perhaps be denominated domestic dependent nations.
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1 (1831) (U.S. Reports, Library of Congress)Their relation to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian.
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1 (1831) (U.S. Reports, Library of Congress)Perhaps the best statement of their position is found in the two opinions of this court by Chief Justice Marshall
United States v. Kagama, 118 U.S. 375 (1886) (U.S. Reports, Library of Congress)
Research notes. The Treaty of Hopewell appears in the reported arguments and separate opinions; I did not confirm that the Nation's own bill named it. Justice Johnson, concurring, thought the bill should be dismissed for a different reason (that there was no plaintiff). Justice Thompson's and Justice Baldwin's separate opinions were not fully read. Whether Worcester v. Georgia (1832) followed is not covered here.
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Connections
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Doctrine applied 3
Concerns the instrument 1
- Treaty of Hopewell with the Cherokee, 17851785suggested
Policy era 1
- Removal1830suggested
Nations named 1
- Cherokeesuggested
Decided a dispute over 1
Sources
- supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/30/1/legal text copy
The record’s fields
- Holding
- The Cherokee Nation is not a 'foreign state' for Article III original jurisdiction, so the Court could not hear its suit against Georgia; injunction denied. Marshall characterized tribes as 'domestic dependent nations' in a guardian-ward relationship.
- Kind
- Court case
- Confidence
- High