Worcester v. Georgia - 101 –
An Analysis of Federal Indian Law “Ultimate US Dominion”
Worcester v. Georgia (1832) is the final case in the so-called “Marshall Trilogy” of decisions that form the foundation of the system of ideas called “federal Indian law.” The case declared that
the US has “ultimate domain” over relations with Native nations, to the exclusion of the states. Worcester cited Johnson v. McIntosh and affirmed its “principle…that discovery gave title” to the “discoverer.”