The westward push of "white" settlers in the US in the 1820s began to dramatically affect the Cherokee: A plan was formulated to fight the encroachment by using the courts.
Worcester and eleven other missionaries published a resolution protesting a law the Georgia state legislature passed prohibiting "white" men from living on Native American land without a license. (Obeying the law would be tantamount to surrendering the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation.) Governor George Rockingham Gilmer ordered the militia to arrest Worcester and those others who signed the resolution. All were convicted and sentenced to four years hard labor. Most accepted pardons, but Worcester and Elizur Butler declined their pardons specifically so the Cherokees could have another chance before the US Supreme Court.
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