In Worcester v. Georgia, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a landmark decision in 1832. The case involved a legal dispute between the state of Georgia and the Cherokee Nation over the sovereignty and rights of Native American tribes.
The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, ruled in favor of the Cherokee Nation, asserting that the Cherokee were a sovereign political entity with the right to self-governance. The Court held that Georgia's laws and actions that sought to control and regulate the Cherokee lands were unconstitutional and violated treaties between the federal government and the Native American tribes.
The decision in Worcester v. Georgia affirmed the principle that Native American tribes possessed inherent sovereignty and were not subject to state laws. However, it was not fully enforced by President Andrew Jackson, leading to the forced removal of the Cherokee people from their ancestral lands in the infamous "Trail of Tears" in the late 1830s. Despite the decision, the plight of Native American tribes continued to face significant challenges in the years that followed.