Worcester v. Georgia

A missionary to the Cherokee and translator of the Bible, printer, and defender of Cherokee sovereignty.

He argued that the Georgia statute that prohibited non-native Americans from being present on Native American lands without a license from the state was unconstitutional

The Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in favor of Worcester and the Cherokee stating that Indian nations were "distinct political communities having territorial boundaries within which their authority is exclusive [and is] guaranteed by the United States"

It rendered the Georgia statute void

They did not impose obligations on Andrew Jackson and therefore there was nothing he could enforce so the ruling seemed pro-Indian but in reality it did not do much.

1832

It upheld the political autonomy of Indians

It built the foundations of doctrine of tribal sovereignty in the US

It marked that the federal government was the sole authority to deal with Indian relations