Johnson v. M'Intosh
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Johnson v. M'Intosh, 21 U.S. (8 Wheat.) 543 (1823)[#endnote_citation], was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that private citizens could not purchase lands directly from Native Americans. The Court determined that the United States government had acquired ultimate title to the land based on the longstanding practices of European colonization, and therefore Native Americans could sell their land only to the U.S. government.
Facts
The plaintiff, Thomas Johnson bought land from Piankeshaw Indian tribes in 1773 and 1775. The defendant, William M'Intosh (pronounced "McIntosh") was later granted title to this same land by the United States government. Johnson sued M'Intosh for title to the land, claiming that it was his by prior purchase. The District Court of Illinois found for M'Intosh.Question presented
The Supreme Court was called upon to consider whether Native Americans had the power to give or sell land that had been "discovered" by European powers.Opinion of the Court
The Supreme Court upheld the finding for M'Intosh, ruling that individuals could not buy land directly from Native Americans, since the United States government had acquired ultimate title to Native American lands.In a long and philosophical opinion, the Court outlined the history of European land acquisition in North America. According to longstanding practice, European nations assumed ultimate title to lands they "discovered"; Native Americans on those lands, according to this doctrine, had the right of occupancy (like tenants in an apartment building), but had never really been considered "owners" of the land. ("Discovery is the foundation of title, in European nations, and this overlooks all proprietary rights in the natives.")
When the independence of the United States was recognized after the American War of Independence, said the Court, it acquired title to those lands within its borders occupied by Native Americans. Therefore, it was settled law that Native Americans could not sell this land to private citizens, since the ultimate title to the land was held by the United States government. The U.S. government therefore had the exclusive power to acquire title to lands occupied by Native Americans.
The Court frankly acknowledged that this longstanding European and U.S. practice treated Native Americans "as an inferior race of people, without the privileges of citizens, and under the perpetual protection and pupilage of the government." This ruling later supported decisions of the Court upholding lesser rights afforded to residents of U.S. territories in the Insular Cases.
References
- Jean Edward Smith, John Marshall: Definer Of A Nation, New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1996.
External links
- ↑ [21 U.S. 543] (Text of the opinion on Findlaw.com)
- [Text of the opinion from the University of Tulsa]
- [History and Interpretation of the Great Case of Johnson v. M'Intosh], by Eric Kades, Law and History Review, Spring 2001
- [The Discovery Doctrine, Aboriginal Title, Tribal Sovereignty, and Their Significance to Treaty-Making in the United States] by Michael C. Blumm
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