What did the supreme court determine in cherokee nation v. georgia
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
In the case of Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee Nation did not have standing to sue the state of Georgia because it was not considered a foreign nation under U.S. law. Chief Justice John Marshall, who delivered the opinion of the Court, stated that the Cherokee Nation was a “domestic dependent nation” and therefore not a foreign entity capable of bringing suit in the Supreme Court.
Explanation:
The Cherokee Nation had petitioned the Court to seek an injunction against the state of Georgia, which had enacted laws that infringed on the rights of the Cherokee people living within their territorial boundaries. These laws were part of Georgia’s effort to force the Cherokees to comply with the state’s policies, including the forced removal of the Cherokees from their lands, an event that would later be known as the Trail of Tears.
The central issue in the case was whether the Cherokee Nation had the legal standing to bring its case before the Supreme Court. The Cherokees argued that their sovereignty, as a nation, was being violated by Georgia’s laws. However, the Court did not agree with this claim, deciding that the Cherokee Nation was not a foreign nation, but rather a “domestic dependent nation” under the protection of the United States.
The Court’s decision effectively left the Cherokee people without legal recourse in this case, as it denied them standing to sue the state. Marshall’s opinion suggested that although the Cherokee had rights within the United States, those rights were subordinate to the power of the federal government and state governments in this context.
Although the decision was unfavorable to the Cherokee Nation, the case highlighted the sovereignty of Native American tribes. Despite this ruling, President Andrew Jackson’s administration moved forward with policies that led to the forced relocation of the Cherokee people, underlining the Court’s inability to enforce its decisions against state or executive power at the time.