The Marshall Court ruled 5–1 in Worcester v. Georgia (1831) that the state of Georgia could not punish Samuel Worcester, a congregational minister, for living on Cherokee lands. The state of Georgia had passed a law requiring any white person to secure a license before living on Cherokee land. The Court ruled that this law violated the sovereign authority of the Cherokee nation.

President Andrew Jackson reportedly said: “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.” Jackson instituted a policy of uprooting the Cherokee and forcing them west to a reservation. This travel was called the “Trail of Tears.”