Georgia ignores Worcester v. Georgia (1832): the federal government declines to enforce

What happened

Georgia passed laws extending its authority over the Cherokee Nation's territory and declaring Cherokee laws "null and void." Samuel Worcester, a missionary living there, was convicted under those laws and sentenced to four years of hard labor. He argued that treaties between the United States and the Cherokee recognized the nation's right to govern its territory, and that the Constitution makes treaties part of the supreme law of the land.

In Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the Supreme Court held that "the Cherokee nation, then, is a distinct community occupying its own territory," in which "the laws of Georgia can have no force." It called the Georgia act "void" and said the judgment against Worcester should be reversed. The New Georgia Encyclopedia reports that Georgia ignored the ruling and refused to release the missionaries. It says President Jackson "did not enforce the decision against the state," and instead urged the Cherokees to relocate or fall under Georgia's jurisdiction. That source says Jackson's widely quoted line about Marshall enforcing his decision does not match his actual words to a general.

In 1835 a dissident faction signed the New Echota treaty, and in 1838 the Army forcibly gathered almost all Cherokees and marched them to Indian Territory. In Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta (2022), the Court said the view in Worcester "has yielded to closer analysis."

Good to know. Jackson's widely quoted line about Marshall enforcing his own decision does not match what he actually wrote.

Summarized with AI assistance from 3 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error