1. Judicial System - Case Study impartiality, weighing the evidence and the power of Reason and Justice

2. Case Study: “Marshall Trilogy” Three cases were decided by the Marshall Court which would become the foundation for laws dealing with Native American tribes and their land. Johnson v. McIntosh, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, and Worcester v. Georgia were decided between 1823 - 1832. These three cases affirmed the legal and political standing of Native tribes.

3. Political Background End of Marshall’s tenure as Supreme Court Justice State’s rights vs. Federal rights - Article I, Article VI gives the federal government - NOT the states - exclusive authority to deal with tribes. Marshall was a federalist and used these cases to further empower the national government as he did with McCulloch v. Maryland, which encouraged the establishment of national banks, and Gibbons v. Ogden, which allowed the federal government the power to use the Commerce Clause to regulate interstate commerce.

4. Timeline Johnson v. McIntosh was decided in 1823: Rights to land that Indians physically possessed could only be acquired by the U.S. government. (Illinois) 1827 - Cherokees adopted a written constitution declaring themselves a sovereign nation. Indian Removal Act - May, 1830 Cherokee Nation v. Georgia - 1830 Worcester v. Georgia - 1832

5. Cherokee Nation v. Georgia Gold found in Georgia State passed laws beginning in 1828 to antagonize Cherokees and gain access to their land. Attorney General Wirt argued that the Cherokee Nation was not subject to Georgia’s jurisdiction. Marshall decreed that the Cherokees were “domestic dependent nations” and therefore that the Supreme Court had no “original jurisdiction,” as the Cherokee nation lacked standing to sue as a foreign nation.

6. Worcester v. Georgia 1830 - Georgia passed laws that required a license for non-natives to live on native land. This was passed in large part to prevent missionaries from helping the native people to keep their lands. 1831 - Samuel Worcester was a missionary who refused to leave Cherokee lands. He said the Georgia law was unconstitutional. TEST case He was convicted by the State of Georgia Superior Court and sentenced to four years of hard labor.

7. Outcome The case was heard by the Supreme Court with a writ of error. The court found in favor of the appellant, Samuel Worcester. Georgia laws violated federal treaties. “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” - President Jackson

8. Trail of Tears: From 1838 - 1839 15, 000 Cherokees were forced to give up lands east of the Mississippi in keeping with the Indian Removal Act. Over 4,000 Cherokees died. The Supreme Court lacked powers to enforce the Worcester decision.