Sovereignty on Trial: The Cherokee Nation and the Fight for Native Rights (Landmark Law Cases and American Society)

The story of the legal battle between the Cherokee Nation and the State of Georgia that ultimately led to the infamous Trail of Tears and the ongoing struggles for Native sovereignty. Sovereignty on Trial tells the story of a trio of landmark United States Supreme Court cases-Johnson v.M’Intosh (1823), Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), and Worcester v. Georgia (1832)-that considered the legal status of Native nations in the early nineteenth century. Known as the Marshall Trilogy-majority opinions all written by Chief Justice John Marshall-the decisions are inconsistent in their holdings and reasoning, leaving American Indian law and interpretations of Native sovereignty confusing and ambiguous.In M’Intosh, Marshall used the imperial doctrine of discovery to diminish the property rights and autonomy of the Native nations.Subsequent interpretations of Marshall’s opinion in Cherokee Nation, with its “guardian and ward” analogy, ultimately placed Native people in a dependent status with t