When gold was found in Georgia in 1829 gold speculators began illegally trespassing on Cherokee lands. The State of Georgia then moved to extend their laws over the Cherokee tribal lands in 1830. The Cherokee brought the matter before the U. S. Supreme Court. The Court ruled that the Cherokee were not a sovereign nation, and therefore refused to hear the case. A second attempt was made in 1832 during the case of Worcester v. State of Georgia. The Court ruled that Georgia could not impose laws in Cherokee territory, since only the national government and not the state government, had that authority in Indian affairs, thus ruling in favor of the Cherokee Nation. However, President Andrew Jackson was quoted with stating:”John Marshall (the Chief Justice in the case) has made his decision; now let him enforce it!” In subverting the decision in favor of the Cherokee people, President Jackson decided to plan his forced march to the Oklahoma Territory in spite of the law. The end result was extremely harmful and unrighteous, sending thousands to their graves, most of them the elderly, women, and children.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Jun 2013 01:49:41 +0000