The Life of John Marshall
Chapter 279 : Thompson's opinion was as Nationalist as any ever delivered by Marshall.It well e

Thompson's opinion was as Nationalist as any ever delivered by Marshall.

It well expressed the general opinion of the North, which was vigorously condemnatory of Georgia as the ruthless despoiler of the rights of the Indians and the robber of their lands.

[1460] See _supra_, 121-25.

[1461] Phillips, 79.

[1462] See McMaster, VI, 47-50.

[1463] Phillips, 81.

[1464] _Ib._ 80-81.

[1465] 6 Peters, 534-35.

[1466] Story to his wife, Feb. 26, 1832, Story, II, 84.

[1467] 6 Peters, 536.

[1468] _Ib._ 537-42.

[1469] _Ib._ 542.

[1470] _Ib._ 542-61

[1471] See vol. III, 504-13, of this work.

[1472] 6 Peters, 561-63.

[1473] Story to Ticknor, March 8, 1832, Story, II, 83.

[1474] Lumpkin's Message to the Legislature, Nov. 6, 1832, as quoted in Phillips, 82.

[1475] Greeley: _The American Conflict_, I, 106; and see Phillips, 80.

[1476] When the Georgia Legislature first met after the decision of the Worcester case, acts were pa.s.sed to strengthen the lottery and distribution of Cherokee lands (Acts of Nov. 14, 22, and Dec. 24, 1832, _Laws of Georgia, 1832_, 122-25, 126, 127) and to organize further the Cherokee territory under the guise of protecting the Indians. (Act of Dec. 24, 1832, _ib_. 102-05.) Having demonstrated the power of the State and the impotence of the highest court of the Nation, the Governor of Georgia, one year after Marshall delivered his opinion, pardoned Worcester and Butler, but not without protests from the people.

Two years later, Georgia's victory was sealed by a final successful defiance of the Supreme Court. One James Graves was convicted of murder; a writ of error was procured from the Supreme Court; and a citation issued to Georgia as in the case of George Ta.s.sels. The high spirit of the State, lifted still higher by three successive triumphs over the Supreme Court, received the order with mingled anger and derision.

Governor Lumpkin threatened secession: "Such attempts, if persevered in, will eventuate in the dismemberment and overthrow of our great confederacy," he told the Legislature. (Governor Lumpkin's Special Message to the Georgia Legislature, Nov. 7, 1834, as quoted in Phillips, 84.)

The Indians finally were forced to remove to the Indian Territory. (See Phillips, 83.) Worcester went to his Vermont home.

[1477] _Debates_, 21st Cong. 1st Sess. 58. The debate between Webster and Hayne occurred on a resolution offered by Senator Samuel Augustus Foot of Connecticut, "that the Committee on Public Lands be instructed to inquire into the expediency of limiting for a certain period the sales of public lands," etc. (_Ib._ 11.) The discussion of this resolution, which lasted more than three months (see _ib._ 11-302), quickly turned to the one great subject of the times, the power of the National Government and the rights of the States. It was on this question that the debate between Webster and Hayne took place.

[1478] _Ib._ 64. Compare with Marshall's language in Cohens _vs._ Virginia, _supra_, 355.

[1479] _Debates_, 21st Cong. 1st Sess. 73.

[1480] See Marshall's statement of this principle, _supra_, 293, 355.

[1481] _Debates_, 21st Cong. 1st Sess. 74.

This was the Const.i.tutional theory of the Nationalists. As a matter of fact, it was not, perhaps, strictly true. There can be little doubt that a majority of the people did not favor the Const.i.tution when adopted by the Convention and ratified by the States. Had manhood suffrage existed at that time, and had the Const.i.tution been submitted directly to the people, it is highly probable that it would have been rejected. (See vol. I, chaps, IX-XII, of this work.)

[1482] _Debates_, 21st Cong. 1st Sess. 76. See chap, III, vol. III, of this work.

[1483] _Debates_, 21st Cong. 1st Sess. 78.

[1484] _Ib._ See Marshall's opinion in Cohens _vs._ Virginia, _supra_, 347-57.

[1485] _Debates_, 21st Cong. 1st Sess. 80.

[1486] Niles, x.x.xIX, 118.

[1487] _Ib._ 330.

[1488] _Debates_, 21st Cong. 1st Sess. 287.

[1489] _Ib._ 285.

[1490] Marshall to Johnston, May 22, 1830, MSS. "Society Collection,"

Pa. Hist. Soc.

[1491] Madison to Everett, Aug. 28, 1830, _Writings_: Hunt, IX, 383-403.

[1492] _North American Review_ (1830), x.x.xI, 537-46.

[1493] Marshall to Story, Oct. 15, 1830, _Proceedings, Ma.s.s. Hist. Soc._ 2d Series, XIV, 342-43.

[1494] Jackson to the Committee, June 14, 1831, Niles, XL, 351.

[1495] _State Doc. Fed. Rel._: Ames, 167-68.

[1496] Marshall to Story, Aug. 2, 1832, _Proceedings, Ma.s.s. Hist. Soc._ 2d Series, XIV, 350.

[1497] Same to same, Sept. 22, 1832, _ib._ 351-52.

[1498] Niles, XLII, 387.

[1499] _Ib._ 388.

[1500] Under Act of Oct. 26, 1832, _Statutes at Large of South Carolina_: Cooper, I, 309-10.

[1501] _Statutes at Large of South Carolina_: Cooper, I, 329-31.

[1502] _Ib._ 434-45.

[1503] _Ib._ 444-45; also Niles, XLIII, 219-20.

[1504] Marshall to Peters, Dec. 3, 1832, Peters MSS. Pa. Hist. Soc.