This Cherokee leader’s legal battle reached the highest court but couldn’t prevent the Trail of Tears tragedy

How Chief John Ross Tried to Prevent the Trail of Tears

In 1828, a half-Scottish, half-Cherokee lawyer became chief of his people just as Georgia wanted their land. John Ross spent the next decade fighting removal through courts and Congress.

He won a Supreme Court case but lost everything when President Jackson ignored the ruling. Sixteen thousand Cherokee were forced west in 1838, with four thousand dying along the way.

Here’s how Ross tried to save his nation, and how you can walk the trail they were forced to take at Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.

Ross beats older Cherokee leaders

Ross won the Cherokee Council vote 34 to 6 in fall 1828, becoming principal chief at just 38. For the first time, they had elected someone who wasn’t nearly full-blooded Cherokee.

The blue-eyed son of a Scottish trader and Cherokee mother understood both worlds, which would prove crucial as pressure mounted.

Ross made Major Ridge his counselor, and together they prepared to face their biggest challenge yet. One month later, Andrew Jackson won the presidency.

Georgia starts grabbing Cherokee land

Georgia’s legislature had been taking over Cherokee territory since 1827, tossing out Cherokee laws and shutting down their government.

State officials sent surveyors with armed guards to map Cherokee lands for white settlers, then held lotteries to hand out parcels to white Georgians.

When gold was discovered on Cherokee territory in 1830, the land grab turned into a stampede.

Georgia also required white missionaries to get state licenses, targeting anyone who encouraged Cherokee resistance to removal.

Jackson gets Congress behind removal

Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in May 1830, giving Jackson the power to negotiate removal treaties with eastern tribes. This came just as the Cherokee had built their strongest case for staying.

They had constructed New Echota with schools, churches and a courthouse, created their own writing system, and published the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper.

Ross had already led the Cherokee Council to declare in 1822 that the nation would never sell another acre. Now he spent months in Washington lobbying officials to honor existing treaties.

Cherokee hire America’s top lawyer

Ross and the Cherokee hired former U. S.

Attorney General William Wirt to fight Georgia’s laws in federal court. Wirt had worked for presidents Monroe and Adams, giving the Cherokee the best legal help available.

He wrote detailed arguments saying the Cherokee should be considered a sovereign nation under the Constitution. The Cherokee filed directly with the Supreme Court, challenging Georgia’s land grab.

Ross also found allies in Congress among National Republican leaders including Henry Clay and Daniel Webster.

Supreme Court calls Cherokee dependent nation

The Cherokee went straight to the Supreme Court in 1831, asking for an order to stop Georgia from enforcing its laws on Cherokee territory.

Chief Justice John Marshall ruled the Court couldn’t hear the case because the Cherokee weren’t a foreign country.

Instead, Marshall called them a “domestic dependent nation” with a relationship to the United States like a “ward to its guardian.

” The decision threw out Cherokee claims but made the federal government responsible for protecting tribes from state interference.

Missionaries challenge Georgia in court

Georgia arrested Samuel Worcester and other missionaries for living in Cherokee territory without state licenses.

Worcester and Elizur Butler refused to get permits and were convicted in 1831, receiving four years hard labor.

Worcester appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing Georgia had no right to extend its laws to Cherokee territory.

Since this case involved white missionaries versus Georgia, the Court could clearly rule on it, giving the Cherokee a second chance at legal victory.

Cherokee win but Jackson ignores

The Supreme Court ruled 5-1 on March 3, 1832 that Georgia’s laws were unconstitutional.

Chief Justice Marshall declared that states had no authority over Cherokee territory, giving the Cherokee their biggest legal victory.

But Jackson refused to enforce the ruling, reportedly saying “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.

” Georgia ignored the federal court and kept the missionaries locked up until 1833, showing that legal victories meant nothing without federal enforcement.

Georgia guards arrest Ross himself

The Georgia Guard arrested Ross and guest John Howard Payne at Ross’s Tennessee home on November 7, 1835, hauling them to a Georgia prison.

While Ross was in Washington, Georgia forces also seized his house and had already grabbed the Cherokee Phoenix printing press. The timing wasn’t coincidental.

During Ross’s imprisonment, the Senate was offering him $5 million to sell 7 million acres of Cherokee land, but Ross refused every bribe and kept fighting.

Ridge faction signs behind Ross’s

While Ross was in Washington fighting the Senate’s bribes, the Treaty Party met at New Echota on December 29, 1835.

Major Ridge, his son John Ridge, and nephew Elias Boudinot signed a removal treaty without permission from Ross or the Cherokee Council. About 500 Cherokee claimed to speak for the entire 16,000-member nation.

The treaty traded 7 million acres of homeland for $5 million and land in Oklahoma. Major Ridge knew what he’d done, reportedly saying “I have signed my death warrant.

Ross fights back with petition

Ross immediately organized the Cherokee response, gathering 16,000 signatures opposing the treaty and proving almost the entire tribe disagreed with removal.

The Cherokee Council sent their petition to Congress in February 1836, demanding senators throw out the unauthorized treaty.

Ross personally delivered the massive petition to Congress in spring 1838, with signatures from nearly every Cherokee man, woman and child.

The numbers showed exactly what Ross had been saying all along: his people wanted to stay home.

Senate approves treaty anyway

Despite Ross’s 16,000 signatures and overwhelming Cherokee opposition, the Senate approved the Treaty of New Echota in March 1836 by one vote.

President Van Buren offered a two-year extension for voluntary removal, but by May 1838, only 2,000 Cherokees had left. Van Buren then sent General Winfield Scott with 7,000 troops to force out the remaining 14,000.

Accepting defeat after ten years of legal and political battles, Ross convinced Scott to let him supervise the removal to protect his people during the journey west.

Visiting The John Ross Museum

The John Ross Museum in Park Hill, Oklahoma tells Ross’s story inside the 1913 schoolhouse where Cherokee kids once learned.

You’ll see exhibits about his legal battles, the Treaty of New Echota controversy, and Trail of Tears removal efforts.

Check out old classroom desks with slate tops and interactive displays covering his 38-year fight for Cherokee sovereignty.

Walk up the hill to Ross Cemetery behind the museum to visit his grave and other Cherokee leaders’ burial sites. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, and admission fees apply for adults.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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