How did president Jackson's views towards native Americans differ from the Supreme Court views?

Answer 1

It is my understanding that President Andrew Jackson and Chief Justice John Marshall were diametrically opposite in their views of Native American rights. In fact, Jackson refused to accept any Supreme Court action that would favor the Native American. For example, in response to the Supreme Court's decision of Worchester v. Georgia, President Jackson was rumored to have said: "John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it!" As a result, Georgia would initially ignore Marshall's ruling, however they would eventually avoid federal jeopardy by quietly releasing Worchester.

At that time, Native Americans were not even recognized as U.S. Citizens. Moreover, Jackson did not consider Native Americans to be civilized enough to have any constitutional privileges, much less entitlement to the land they were occupying. It is no surprise that he followed-up with the forced removal of Cherokee People, which had been made legitimate by the Indian Removal Act.

Even though Jackson's dislike of Native Americans was obvious, it has been suggested that his political motives went beyond his prejudices. Jackson was a strong unionist, and he ignored federal enforcement of Worchester v. Georgia as a token gesture to keep Georgia from further federal alienation (state's rights, secession), as he already felt South Carolina was headed. To further his favor with the South, Jackson even appointed a U.S. Representative from Georgia to the Supreme Court during Marshall's tenure.

However, in the long term, Chief Justice Marshall would reach beyond his grave to have the last laugh. Historically, his Supreme Court action in Worchester v. Georgia would be the single most important judicial decision affecting relations between the U.S. and Indian Nations. It would establish a legal precedent that the Indian nations are sovereign and independent of any state's legislation, while being subject only to the U.S. Government. Worchester v. Georgia would be cited many times to affect Supreme Court decisions well into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.