Worcester v. Georgia

E38721

United States Supreme Court case federal Indian law case landmark case

Worcester v. Georgia was an 1832 U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court held that states had no authority to impose laws on Native American tribal lands, affirming tribal sovereignty in the face of federal Indian Removal policies.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Worcester v. Georgia canonical	14
Worcester v. Georgia (1832)	2
Samuel A. Worcester v. The State of Georgia	1
Worcester v. Georgia decision	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court case ⓘ federal Indian law case ⓘ landmark case ⓘ
areaOfLaw	constitutional law ⓘ federal Indian law ⓘ federalism ⓘ
backgroundLaw	Indian Trade and Intercourse Acts ⓘ Commerce Clause ⓘ surface form: U.S. Constitution Commerce Clause U.S. treaties with the Cherokee Nation ⓘ
chiefJustice	John Marshall ⓘ
citation	31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515 ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
dateDecided	1832-03-03 ⓘ
decade	1830s ⓘ
decisionEffect	affirmed that Native American nations are distinct political communities ⓘ invalidated Georgia laws regulating residence of non-Native Americans on Cherokee lands ⓘ
dissentingOpinionBy	Henry Baldwin ⓘ William Johnson ⓘ
fullCaseName	Worcester v. Georgia self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Samuel A. Worcester v. The State of Georgia
historicalSignificance	considered a foundational case for tribal sovereignty in the United States ⓘ limited the ability of U.S. states to interfere with Native American self-government ⓘ
holding	Regulation of intercourse with Native American tribes is vested exclusively in the federal government ⓘ States have no authority to impose their laws within the territorial boundaries of Native American nations ⓘ Cherokee Nation (historical) ⓘ surface form: The Cherokee Nation is a distinct community with self-government in which the laws of Georgia can have no force
involvedTribe	Cherokee Nation (historical) ⓘ surface form: Cherokee Nation
joinedByInMajority	Gabriel Duvall ⓘ John McLean ⓘ Joseph Story ⓘ Smith Thompson ⓘ
jurisdiction	United States federal jurisdiction ⓘ
languageOfOpinion	English ⓘ
legalIssue	scope of federal authority in Indian affairs ⓘ state jurisdiction over Native American tribal lands ⓘ
locationOfEvents	U.S. state of Georgia ⓘ surface form: State of Georgia
majorityOpinionBy	John Marshall ⓘ
petitioner	Samuel A. Worcester ⓘ
precededBy	Cherokee Nation v. Georgia ⓘ
presidentAtTime	Andrew Jackson ⓘ
relatedDoctrine	exclusive federal power over Indian affairs ⓘ supremacy of federal treaties over state law ⓘ tribal sovereignty ⓘ
relatedTo	Indian Removal policy of the United States ⓘ surface form: Indian Removal policy Trail of Tears ⓘ
respondent	U.S. state of Georgia ⓘ surface form: State of Georgia
subsequentControversy	Georgia initially refused to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision ⓘ
subsequentImpact	frequently cited in later federal Indian law jurisprudence ⓘ
yearDecided	1832 ⓘ

Referenced by (18)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Indian Removal policy of the United States → relatedCourtCase → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

Cherokee Nation (historical) → legalCase → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

this entity surface form: Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

Trail of Tears → follows → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

this entity surface form: Worcester v. Georgia decision

Worcester v. Georgia → fullCaseName → Worcester v. Georgia self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Samuel A. Worcester v. The State of Georgia

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia → relatedTo → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

Marshall Court era → hasKeyDecision → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

John Marshall Court → landmarkCase → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

Native American sovereignty → historicallyArticulatedIn → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

this entity surface form: Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

Samuel A. Worcester → notableWork → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

Samuel A. Worcester → participantIn → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

Samuel A. Worcester → hasLegalCase → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

Cherokee → legalCase → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

Georgia initially refused to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision → relatedCourtCase → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

Johnson v. M’Intosh → relatedCase → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

Marshall Trilogy → hasPart → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

Cherokee lands within the State of Georgia → subjectOf → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

United States federal Indian law and policy → shapedBy → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ

Marshall Court → significantCase → Worcester v. Georgia ⓘ