Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
| Cherokee Nation v. Georgia | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Decided March 18, 1831 | |
| Full case name | The Cherokee Nation v. The State of Georgia |
| Citations | 30 U.S. 1 (more)
8 L. Ed. 25; 1831 U.S. LEXIS 337
|
| Prior history | Original jurisdiction |
| Holding | |
| The Supreme Court does not have original jurisdiction to hear a suit brought by the Cherokee Nation, which is not a "foreign State" within the meaning of Article III | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Marshall, joined by McLean |
| Concurrence | Johnson |
| Concurrence | Baldwin |
| Dissent | Thompson, joined by Story |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. art. III | |
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. (5 Peters) 1 (1831), was a United States Supreme Court case. The Cherokee Nation sought a federal injunction against laws passed by the U.S. state of Georgia depriving them of rights within its boundaries, but the Supreme Court did not hear the case on its merits. It ruled that it had no original jurisdiction in the matter, as the Cherokees were a dependent nation, with a relationship to the United States like that of a "ward to its guardian," as said by Justice Marshall.
The Cherokee people had lived in Georgia and what is now the southeastern United States for hundreds of years. In 1542, Hernando de Soto conducted an expedition through the southeastern United States and came into contact with at least three Cherokee villages. The English immigrants to the Carolinas began to trade with the tribe beginning in 1673. By 1711, the English were providing guns to the Cherokees in exchange for their help in fighting the Tuscarora tribe in the Tuscarora War. Cherokee trade with the English colonists of South Carolina and Georgia increased, and in the 1740s the Cherokee began to transition to a commercial hunting and farming lifestyle. In 1775, one Cherokee village was described as having 100 houses, each with a garden, orchard, hothouse, and hog pens. After a war with the colonists, the Cherokee signed a peace treaty in 1785. In 1791 the Treaty of Holston was signed by Cherokee leaders and William Blount for the United States.
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