Peters, Richard | The Supreme Court rules that the Cherokee Nation is not a sovereign nation

Peters, Richard

The Case of the Cherokee Nation against the State of Georgia; Argued and Determined at the Supreme Court of the United States, January Term, 1831. With an Appendix Containing the Opinion of Chancellor Kent on the Case; the Treaties Between the United States and the Cherokee Indians; the Act of Congress of 1802, entitled 'An Act to Regulate Intercourse with the Indian Tribes, &c.’; and the Laws of Georgia Relative to the Country Occupied by the Cherokee Indians, within the Boundary of that State. Philadelphia: John Grigg, 1831

8vo (245 x 148 mm, untrimmed). Scattered soiling, chips to preliminary leaves, title-page remargined. Half calf antique, leather title labels to spine, gilt in compartments. 

First edition. In the case of the Cherokee Nation against the State of Georgia, the Supreme Court declined to rule on the merits, defining the indigenous tribe as a "domestic dependent nation," which lacked the standing to sue as a "foreign" nation. 

Scarce: no copies appear in the auction records since 1992.

REFERENCE

Howes P260

PROVENANCE

Zanesville Athenaum (stamp to title, deaccession stamp to verso)