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Resistance in the Courts
Digital History ID 687

Author:   Introduction
Date:

Annotation: The Cherokee people did not respond passively to President Andrew Jackson's efforts to evict them from their lands. They challenged the removal policy in court.

In 1828, the Cherokee living in Georgia tried to secure their lands by adopting a constitution. Georgia refused to recognize the document and declared that the Cherokee were subject to state laws. The Cherokee appealed to the Supreme Court, but in the case of Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, the court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction, since the Cherokee were not a foreign nation as defined by the United States Constitution.


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