Native American Removal: Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
1. In the court case Worcester v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court held in 1832 that the Cherokee Indians
2. constituted (created) a nation holding distinct sovereign (independent) powers. Although the decision
3. became the basis of the principle of tribal sovereignty in the twentieth century, it did not protect the
4. Cherokees from being removed from their ancestral (family) homeland in the Southeast.
5. In the 1820s and 1830s Georgia conducted (led) a relentless campaign to remove the Cherokees, who
6. held territory within the borders of Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee at the time. The
7. Cherokees created their own constitution and claimed that they did not have to follow Georgia’s laws,
8. because they were a sovereign nation. The state annexed (captured) the Cherokee lands; abolished
9. (ended) their government, courts, and laws; and established a process for seizing Cherokee land and
10. distributing it to the state's white citizens. In 1830 representatives from Georgia and the other southern
11. states pushed through Congress the Indian Removal Act, which gave U.S. president Andrew Jackson the
12. authority to negotiate (discuss) removal treaties with the Native American tribes.
13. The Cherokees, led by their principal chief, John Ross, refused to remove and instead filed with the U.S.
14. Supreme Court an action claiming that Georgia’s laws did not apply to the Cherokee. In Cherokee
15. Nation v. Georgia (1831), the court held that it did not have jurisdiction to strike down Georgia's laws.
16. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that the Cherokees constituted a "domestic (local), dependent nation"
17. that existed under the guardianship of the United States.
18. In Worcester v. Georgia, the court struck down Georgia's extension laws. In the majority opinion, Chief
19. Justice John Marshall wrote that the Indian nations were "distinct, independent political communities
20. retaining (holding) their original natural rights". Marshall harshly rebuked (criticized) Georgia for its
21. actions and declared that the Cherokees possessed the right to live free from the state's trespasses.
22. The Cherokee leadership hoped the decision would persuade the federal government to intervene
23. (interefere) against Georgia and end the talk of removal. Georgia ignored the Supreme Court's ruling
24. and continued to press the federal government to remove the Cherokees. President Jackson did not
25. enforce the decision against the state and instead called on the Cherokees to relocate (move) or fall
26. under Georgia's jurisdiction (authority).
27. In 1835 a dissident (rebellious) faction (group) of Cherokees signed a removal treaty at the Cherokee
28. capital of New Echota. In 1838 the U.S. Army entered the Cherokee Nation, forcibly gathered almost all
29. of the Cherokees, and marched them to the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma, in what became
30. known as the Trail of Tears.
Native American Removal: Worcester v. Georgia
Directions: Answer the questions based on the passage. Use the word bank below to help you interpret the passage. The parentheses guide you to where you should refer to the passage to find answers.
1. In the first sentence of the passage, you discover that the ruling (decision) of the Worcester v. Georgia court case is:
- The government decided that the Native Americans were their own nation that didn’t have to follow state laws.
- The government decided that the Native Americans were a nation that was part of the United States, and thus must follow state laws.
2. Refer to Lines 2-4. Did the ruling of the court case that you identified in #1 protect the Native Americans from being removed from their homeland?
- Yes b. No
3. Refer to Line 7. What did the Cherokee do in an attempt to declare their independence from Georgia?
4. Refer to Lines 8-10. What did Georgia do in response to the Cherokees actions that you described in #3?
5. Refer to Lines 11-12. What was the Indian Removal Act?
6. Refer to Lines 13-14. Who was John Ross and what did he do? Write your response in your own words.
7. Read Lines 18-20. In your own words, answer the following question: Who delivered the Worcester v. Georgia decision, and what decision did he pass down for the Worcester v. Georgia court case?
8. Which of the following best describes the Native Americans’ hopes as a result of the court case decision?
- The Cherokee hoped it would provide them with the protection they needed to remain on their lands and safe from Georgians.
- The Cherokee hoped it would allow them to claim new land out west, away from the white citizens that they did not trust.
9. Refer to Lines 23-24. What was Georgia’s actual response/reaction to the Worcester v. Georgia court case?
10. Refer to Lines 25-26. Did President Andrew Jackson support the court case decision, or did he fight it? In your
own words, write a sentence, using information from the passage, to support your answer.
11. Refer to Line 29. To where were the Native Americans relocated?