CONTENTS.

The Bill filed on behalf of The Cherokee Nation vs. The State

The Opinion of the Court, delivered by Chief Justice Marshall, 159

The Opinion of Mr Justice Johnson,

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-

The Opinion of Mr Justice Baldwin,
The Dissenting Opinion of Mr Justice Thompson, concurred

in by Mr Justice Story,

164
175

- 194

APPENDIX, No. I. Containing the Opinion of Chancellor Kent, 225
APPENDIX, No. II. Containing the Treaties between the Uni-

ted States of America and the Cherokee Nation,
APPENDIX, No. III. Containing the Act of Congress passed
1802, entitled 'An Act regulating Intercourse with the
Indian Tribes, &c.'

APPENDIX, No. IV. Containing the Acts passed by the Legisla-

ture of Georgia, relative to the country occupied by the
Cherokee Indians, within the boundaries of the State of
Georgia,

249

274

- 281

THE CHEROKEE NATION

vs.

THE STATE OF GEORGIA.

DECIDED IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, AT JANUARY TERM 1831.

Motion for an injunction to prevent the execution of certain acts of the legislature of the state of Georgia in the territory of the Cherokee nation of Indians, on behalf of the Cherokee nation; they claiming to proceed in the supreme court of the United States as a foreign state against the state of Georgia; under the provision of the constitution of the United States, which gives to the court jurisdiction in controversies in which a state of the United States and the citizens thereof, and a foreign state, citizens, or subjects thereof, are parties. The Cherokee nation is not a foreign state, in the sense in which the term "foreign state" is used in the constitution of the United States. The third article of the constitution of the United States describes the extent of the judicial power. The second section closes an enumeration of the cases to which it extends, with "controversies between a state or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects." A subsequent clause of the same section gives the supreme court original jurisdiction in all cases in which a state shall be a party-the state of Georgia may then certainly be sued in this court.

The Cherokees are a state. They have been uniformly treated as a state since the settlement of our country. The numerous treaties made with them by the United States recognize them as a people capable of maintaining the relations of peace and war; of being responsible in their political character for any violation of their engagements, or for any aggression committed on the citizens of the United States, by any individual of their community. Laws have

A