The Cherokee Tobacco facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Cherokee Tobacco |
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| Argued March 20, April 10–11, 1871 Decided May 1, 1871 |
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| Full case name | The Cherokee Tobacco |
| Citations | 78 U.S. 616 (more)
11 Wall. 616; 20 L. Ed. 227
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| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Swayne, joined by Clifford, Miller, Strong |
| Dissent | Bradley, joined by Davis |
| Chase, Nelson, and Field took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
The Cherokee Tobacco Case was an important court case in the United States. It happened in 1870. This case was about whether the Cherokee Nation had the right to make its own rules, especially about taxes. This idea is called tribal sovereignty. It means tribes can govern themselves.
Two Cherokee men, Elias C. Boudinot and Stand Watie, made tobacco in the Cherokee Nation. They refused to pay taxes on their tobacco. The U.S. government's Internal Revenue Act of 1868 said they had to pay these taxes. However, Boudinot and Watie believed they did not have to pay. They said a treaty from 1866 protected them from these taxes. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decided that a new U.S. law could overrule an older treaty.
Contents
What Was the Case About?
The Cherokee Tobacco Case focused on a disagreement over taxes. Elias C. Boudinot and Stand Watie were Cherokee citizens. They produced tobacco within the Cherokee Nation's lands. The U.S. government wanted them to pay taxes on this tobacco. These taxes were part of a law passed in 1868.
The Cherokee Argument
Boudinot and Watie had lawyers helping them. These lawyers were A. Pike, R. W. Johnson, and B.F. Butler. They argued that their clients did not need to pay the tobacco tax. Their main point came from the Cherokee Treaty of 1866.
Article 10 of this treaty said:
“Every Cherokee and freed person resident in the Cherokee nation shall have the right to sell any products of his farm, including his or her live stock or any merchandise or manufactured products, and to ship and drive the same to market without restraint, paying any tax thereon which is now or may be levied by the United States on the quantity sold outside of the Indian Territory.”
The Cherokee men and their lawyers believed this part of the treaty was clear. They thought it meant that Cherokee people could sell their products, like tobacco, without paying U.S. taxes on them. They felt this right applied as long as the products were sold within the Cherokee Nation.
The U.S. Government's Argument
The United States government had its own lawyers. These included Amos Akerman, who was the U.S. Attorney General. Also, Benjamin Bristow, the Solicitor General, represented the government.
They argued that a different law applied. This was the 107th section of the Internal Revenue Act of July 20, 1868. This law stated:
"The internal revenue laws imposing taxes on distilled spirits, fermented liquors, tobacco, snuff, and cigars, shall be construed to extend to such articles produced anywhere within the exterior boundaries of the United States, whether the same shall be within a collection district or not,"
The government's lawyers said this meant the U.S. could tax anything made anywhere within its borders. This included areas like the Cherokee Nation. They also pointed out that this law was passed in 1868. This was two years after the Cherokee Nation Treaty of 1866. Because it was a newer law, they argued it should overrule the older treaty.
The Supreme Court's Decision
Justice Swayne wrote the main decision for the Supreme Court. The Court was not fully in agreement on this case. Three justices agreed with Swayne. Two justices disagreed, and three did not take part in the decision.
Justice Swayne started by looking at two main questions. First, did Congress intend to tax tobacco in the Cherokee Nation? Second, if they did, did Congress have the power to do so, even with the older treaty?
Impact on Tribal Sovereignty
The Court's decision created a new way of thinking about laws and tribes. Before this case, people often thought that U.S. laws did not apply to tribes. This was unless the law specifically said it included tribes. Or, unless the tribe had agreed to it. This idea supported the tribes' right to govern themselves.
However, the Cherokee Tobacco Case changed this view. The Court decided that general U.S. laws do apply to tribes. This is true unless Congress specifically says they do not apply. So, Elias Boudinot and Stand Watie had to pay the tobacco tax.
This decision was a big setback for tribal sovereignty. It made it harder for Native American nations to be seen as fully independent. People wondered how a nation inside the U.S. borders could be sovereign if it had to pay U.S. taxes. This case weakened the idea that Native American nations were like other sovereign countries.
