Cherokee+Nation+v.+Georgia

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia- Allison Kelley, Sarah Horvath, and Becca Bedell

__ Cherokee Nation V. Georgia __ 1. Case title: Cherokee Nation V. Georgia

2. Date of hearing: March 5th 1831

3. Chief Justice and brief biographical sketch: John Marshall
 * Lived 1755-1835
 * Was born in a log cabin and was the eldest of 15 children of Thomas Marshall, and Mary Keith Marshall,
 * In 1775, Marshall, as lieutenant, joined his father in a Virginia regiment of minutemen and participated in the first fighting in that colony.
 * Rose to rank of Captain
 * Later declined offers for U.S. attorney for Virginia, attorney general, Supreme Court and secretary of war, but agreed to be Chief Justice in 1801.
 * Fourth chief justice of the United States
 * Principal founder of the U.S. system of constitutional law
 * Outside the court, Marshall spent much of his time caring for an invalid wife. He also enjoyed companionship, drinking, and debating with friends in Richmond.
 * Wife died on Christmas
 * He died on July 6th, 1835

4. Documents or amendments to the constitution relevant to the case:
 * Indian Removal Act
 * Constitution
 * Article III, Section 2 (** tell us what this part is about) **
 * ** 5th Amendment (which part? Due process?) **
 * Declaration of Independence

5. Summary of the case / analysis in your own words: Georgia was creating laws that limited the rights of the Cherokee tribe. The Cherokee wanted the laws to not apply to them because they felt that they counted as their own “nation.” The state of Georgia wanted to take the tribal lands away from the Cherokee, especially after gold was found there in 1828. The Cherokee tribe fought in this case to keep their land. Unfortunately, they lost and were forced off of the land.

6. Main issue or argument of the case: The Main issue/argument of this case was that the Cherokees wanted to fight against the state of Georgia, which was trying to move the Cherokees off of their land. Georgia wanted to sell the land, but the Cherokees wanted to stay. This was around the time of the Trail of Tears, when a lot of Native American tribes were being forced off their land.

7. Decision rendered by the court plus the vote: They ruled in favor of Georgia because they said that the Cherokee Nation wasn't exactly considered a "foreign nation," which was what the Cherokees were trying to argue. The court said that they were more of a "domestic dependent nation." This meant that their land still belonged to Georgia, it wasn't a separate from state laws. It was a 4–2 decision on whether or not to hear the case. Four didn't want to hear the case and two did.

8. Who voted what, dissenting and why: The Supreme Court said that they wouldn't hear the case because the Cherokee Nation wasn't really a state. Therefore, Georgia was in charge of what to do with the land. Chief Justice Marshall had said that the court would hear an appeal, but the case first had to be filed again in a lower court, but it was never was. The vote on whether or not to hear the case is below: For the court (not hearing the case): Dissenting (hearing the case):
 * Henry Baldwin
 * William Johnson
 * John Marshall
 * John McLean
 * Smith Thompson
 * Joseph Story

9. Who were the members of court at the time and how long on the court:
 * Chief Justice John Marshall, 27 years
 * Henry Baldwin, 15 years
 * William Johnson, 26 years
 * John McLean, 2 years
 * Smith Thompson, 7 years
 * Joseph Story, 21 years
 * Gabriel Duvall did not participate ** (why not?) **

10. What is your personal opinion of the case, and why: My personal opinion is that the Cherokee Nation should have won. They may not be considered a foreign nation, but no one deserves to be kicked off their homeland. After this trial, the Native Americans had a few years to move to Oklahoma. This was not fair to the Cherokee Nation. This was the unfortunate case for most of the Native Americans at the time, as they were all moved forcefully off their land.

11. What if the case had gone the other way: If the case had gone the other way then the Cherokee Indians would not have been moved off their lands and onto the Trail of Tears. That would have saved them a lot of suffering and death. Georgia would not be able to have the land from them, so there would still be discrimination against the Cherokees, and the other Georgia citizens would not be happy.



Works Cited

"Cherokee Nation v. Georgia." //ENotes//. Web. 7 Feb. 2012. .

"//Cherokee Nation v. Georgia//." //Great American Court Cases//. Ed. Mark Mikula and L. Mpho Mabunda. Vol. 4: Business and Government. Detroit: Gale, 1999. //Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context//. Web. 23 Jan. 2012.

"Cherokee Nation v. Georgia." //Wikipedia//. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. []. "John Marshall." //Library of Virginia//. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. [].

"John Marshall." // Who Served Here? // . Courtesy National Center for the American Revolution/Valley Forge Historical Societ, 2011. Web. 14 Feb 2012. [].


 * 7/7 - Biblio - good job. **
 * 23/28 Content -- I think that some of the sections need more explanation, especially the court's decision not to hear the case. Tell us why certain parts of the Constitution and Declaration were involved. **
 * 5/5 - Organization - looks good. **
 * 35/40 Total **