The Bill of Rights contains all of the basic rights endowed to all American citizens. For the purpose of our argument we will consider the Indians of the 19th century as American citizens. After reviewing the Bill of Rights it became extremely apparent that as American citizens many Indians civil rights were not only withheld, but also flat out denied and violated. Under the direction of anti-Indian president Andrew Jackson, the Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and within five years the Treaty of New Echota was formed and thus began the saddest series of events, which became known as the Trail of Tears. These events and more added to the delinquency of the U.S. court system, which stunted the rise of Indian equality. Through twisted interpretations the Supreme Court made several rulings that resulted in the massacring and relocation of thousands of Indians. When Congress passed the I.R.A., many Americans opposed, but it passed anyway. Once it passed Pres Jackson’s desk he quickly signed the bill into a law. The Cherokee, obviously upset, attempted to take legal action which lead to Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia. The Indians were denied their 6th amendment rights by the court. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to try the case which is a clear violation of the 6th amendment; “nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without the process of the law;” After a year in 1832 the Supreme Court ruled on the same issue in the case of Worchester vs. Georgia. In that case, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled not only that the Cherokee Nation was sovereign, but also that previous removal laws were unconstitutional. He also said that the Cherokees had to agree to a removal treaty that would be ratified by the Congress. In 1835 Major Ridge, who advocated removal, lead a small percent of Cherokee from North Georgia to Virginia. Ridge, along with 500 of the 17,000 Cherokee in North Georgia signed the Treaty ...
