Worcester vs.

Georgia: Impact on Native American Social Identity

Social identity is integration of yourself to identify with groups. For example, one
may identify ones self to be woman, Muslim, runner, environmentalist, teacher, or
perhaps a Native American. Within these social identities, historical events have had an
impact on those group members and even people outside the social group, such as the
Worcester vs. Georgia Supreme Court case. With constant growth in population of
Americans in the 1800s, the Native Americans were forced to travel farther west. The
Cherokee Natives refused to relocate, suing Georgia in the Worcester vs. Georgia case,
affecting the lives of the Natives and changing the worlds viewpoint of Americans.
The Cherokee Natives were unique. They were one of few Native Americans that
had created their own written language. They began to retire their nomad ways and
started farming cotton and food and raised cattle. They began to own slaves to work their
plantations. Missionaries helped the Cherokees form schools. They formed a newspaper
named The Cherokee Phoenix and a government named the Cherokee Nation Council. A
legal system was formed in 1808 and a constitution was written in 1827, including
information about their land boarders. Despite this, Americans believed that the natives
were uncivilized and in need of their assistance (Indian Removal). The Cherokees are
referred to now as one of the Five Civilized Tribes, also including the Choctaw,
Chickasaw, Seminole, and Creek Indians who embraced American ways (Trail of
Tears). Though the Americans were innovative and many people in government were
brilliant, they were nave to believe that the Cherokees were uncivilized. They felt that it
was their duty to help the Natives become more civilized and that they were helping
them. In reality, they were forcing the natives to conform to alien ways. Americans sent

Missionaries into the tribes to covert them to Christianity and build up their towns. At the
same time, however, the Americans desired the Natives land and plotted to seize them.
They wanted Cherokee lands for commerce through planting cotton. Cherokee land
proved valuable in fertility and resources. Georgia also did not want sovereign nations
inside state boarders that were exempt from paying taxes and outside of Georgia
jurisdiction. They did not care how civilized the Natives grew to be. The Americans
began stealing Cherokee livestock, burning houses and towns, looting from the Cherokee
Nation, and began taking land that was not theirs (Trail of Tears). Americans were very
greedy and began to disrespect Cherokee rights. They resorted to violence and criminal
acts to the Cherokee land. They did not show much respect for Cherokee customs or
values. Their population was also increasing rapidly. Cities became crowded and settlers
started migrating west to accommodate new civilians.
Due to these mistreatings, the Cherokees sued Georgia. The case started February
20 and ended March 3 in 1832. They claimed that Georgia extended jurisdiction over
their lands to attempt to abolish their government, courts, and laws, and seized their land,
selling it to settlers in an effort to force them out, and that all of this was it violation of
Cherokee rights. They declared that they were a sovereign nation that could not be forced
out of their lands without their own consent (Garrison). The Supreme Court Chief Justice
John Marshall, who overlooked the case, ruled that it was unconstitutional of Georgia to
encroach on Cherokee rights and land as it violated the 14
th
Amendment. It was also
ruled that Georgia had no jurisdiction over the Natives.
Despite the Supreme Courts ruling, Georgia proceeded to force the Cherokees
out of their land. The Cherokees joined 125,000 Natives within Georgia, Tennessee,

Alabama, and Florida that were forced out of their homes. They walked a path to the
Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma). Men, women, children, and the elderly were
forced to walk what is known as the Trail of Tears. Many of those who started the
journey did not finish it, due to harsh weather conditions, illness, lack of food, and lack of
other basic supplies. The President of the United States, who had encouraged - or at
least winked at this outrage, now seemed prepared to stand by and watch the state defy
the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States (Burke). In other words,
President Jackson had ignored the unconstitutional acts of Georgia, because he too
wished for the natives to leave. Georgia continued the removal process into 1836.
President Van Buren forced the remaining 2,000 Cherokees to relocate to the Indian
Territory in 1838.
The Worcester vs. Georgia case and the Cherokees being forced to join the Trail
of Tears has severely affected Cherokee and Native heritage. Ensuing generations would
not know of a peace between the tribes and the states. They would be raised with
venomous thought of one another. Future Native generations would never know their
tribes homeland, and many costumes were sure to change or disappear. In an aspect of
the worlds opinion on the Americans, other nations would not be likely to approve or
think highly of them. They might call Americans the real savages and look down on
them. Many nations would be likely to ally with the Natives rather than the Americans in
terms of trade and protection, nations such as France, Spain, and England.




Works Cited
Aboukhadijeh, Feross. Indian Removal. StudyNotes, Inc., 17 Nov. 2011. web.
Burke, Joseph C. The Cherokee Cases: A Study in Law, Politics, and Morality. web.
Garrison, Tim Allen. Worcester v. Georgia (1832). Portland, Oregon: Portland State
University, 4 April 2004. web.
Trail of Tears. The History Channel, 2013. web.