supreme court case Worcester v. Georgia what was the case about
Worcester v. Georgia was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case decided in 1832. The case centered around the question of whether the state of Georgia had the authority to regulate access to Native American lands within its borders. The case specifically involved missionaries from New England, led by Samuel Worcester and Elizur Butler, who were living and working among the Cherokee Nation in Georgia.
Facing pressure from white settlers who sought Native American lands, Georgia passed laws that required non-Native Americans to obtain a license to live and work on Cherokee lands, without which they could be prosecuted. Worcester and Butler, along with other missionaries, defied the law by residing on the Cherokee lands without a license. They were subsequently arrested and convicted under the Georgia statute.
The case reached the Supreme Court, and the key question before the court was whether the Georgia law violated federal treaty obligations with Native American tribes, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause. The court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, ruled in favor of Worcester and Butler, finding that the Georgia law was unconstitutional. The decision established that only the federal government, not individual states, had the authority to regulate Native American affairs, including their lands.
Despite the ruling, the state of Georgia and its officials refused to comply. President Andrew Jackson, who was unsympathetic to Native American rights, reportedly said, "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." Ultimately, the case did not prevent the forced removal of Native Americans from their ancestral lands, as seen in the infamous Trail of Tears, which involved the removal of the Cherokee Nation from Georgia to present-day Oklahoma. Nevertheless, Worcester v. Georgia remains significant as a precedent affirming the federal government's authority over Native American affairs and as a reflection of the tensions between state and federal power in the United States.