Cherokee Nation versus Georgia
In the Indian Removal Act, there were three sides to whether or not the Cherokee Nation should have their land taken from them. There was the state of Georgia, the Supreme Court, and the Cherokee Nation. In the end, it was up to the Supreme Court to decide if the Cherokee Nation was a foreign state or not, but this did not stop the state of Georgia as well as the Cherokee Nation from expressing their views on why or why not the Cherokee Nation should be considered a foreign nation.
Georgia believed that the Cherokee Nation was not a part of the United States. Since they were foreigners, in their eyes, the Courts should not be hearing the case. With this belief, according to Georgia, the Cherokee Nation had no
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One such treaty was “Treaty Hopewell”. This treaty said that the U.S. managed trades and other business affairs. It also stated that the Cherokee Nations were allowed to send a deputy to congress [McBride]. The Cherokee did not consider itself foreign because when it came to their maps, laws, history, and discourses, they were known to be a part of the super visional limits of the U.S.
Whether or not the Court thought Georgia should clear the Cherokee out, let alone hear the case, proved to be difficult. The Courts were trying to figure out if the Cherokee Nation was a legible party to sue. The issue faced with this case all comes down to the previously stated: Is the Cherokee Nation a foreign state, or is it a part of the Untied States. The answer according to the Supreme Court determines if the Eleventh Amendment takes place and if the Courts could hear the case, or if they had any jurisdiction.
In the end, the Court deemed that the Cherokee Nation was indeed a dependent nation amongst the U.S. and did not hear the case. The conclusion came from Article III of the U.S. Constitution. Thus article viewed the Native American tribes as “denominated domestic dependent nation”, and not a sovereign nation