“My own view of duty is, that I ought to remain, and quietly pursue my labors for the spiritual welfare of the Cherokee people, until I am forcibly removed. If I am correct in the apprehension that the State of Georgia has no rightful jurisdiction over the territory where I reside, then it follows that I am under no moral obligation to remove, in compliance with her enactments; and if I suffer in consequence of continuing to preach the gospel and diffuse the written work of God among this people, I trust that I shall be sustained by a conscience void of offence, and by the anticipation of a righteous decision at that tribunal from which there is no appeal.”
—Rev. Samuel A. Worcester
In 1831, Samuel Worcester and ten other ministers were arrested by the state of
Georgia for violating a law that prohibited white men from living in the
Cherokee nation. The statute had been passed the previous year in attempt to
keep missionaries from working among the Indians, knowing that the Gospel would
be a hindrance to the State’s efforts to expel the Cherokee to Oklahoma.
Each of the men
were found guilty and sentenced to four years hard labor. Nine of the men
accepted a pardon shortly thereafter, but Worcester, even though he had a wife
and children, decided to decline the pardon so that the Cherokee could appeal
the law. One other minister, Elizur Butler, stayed with him.
In 1832, The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in his favor in the case
of Worcester v. Georgia, ordering that his sentence be vacated. Georgia said
that the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction in the matter and had refused to
even defend themselves in court.
They then ignored the ruling, keeping Worcester and
Butler in prison. In 1833, recognizing that the Cherokee would soon be forced
out despite the best efforts of the missionaries and feeling that they could do
no more harm, the State finally released them.
Worcester moved with his family to Oklahoma where he served among the Indians until his death in 1859.
No comments:
Post a Comment