Johnson v. McIntosh held that mere discovery gave European governments title to Indigenous lands

Evidence

In 1823 the US Supreme Court issued its decision in Johnson v. McIntosh. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Marshall held that the Doctrine of Discovery had been an established principle of European law and of English law in effect in Britain’s North American colonies and was also the law of the United States. The Court defined the exclusive property rights that a European country acquired by dint of discovery: “Discovery gave title to the government, by whose subjects, or by whose authority, it was made, against all other European governments, which title might be consummated by possession.” Therefore, European and Euro-American “discoverers” had gained real-property rights in the lands of Indigenous peoples by merely planting a flag. Indigenous rights were, in the Court’s words, “in no instance, entirely disregarded; but were necessarily, to a considerable extent, impaired.” — Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the…, 501

Categorization

• XREF: The landmark 1823 ruling that legitimized US land title; connects to the land-confiscation theme of the Black Hills case. — connects to: Colonists survived by seizing what Indigenous peoples had already built. — Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the…, 113; US founders designed westward expansion to seize Indigenous land; Jefferson bought Louisiana without consulting the Indigenous nations who lived there — Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the…, 227 (+1 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the…, 501

Broader Connections

• US founders designed westward expansion to seize Indigenous land #corroborates (0.80)
• Colonists survived by seizing what Indigenous peoples had already built. #expands (0.70) — Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the…, 113
• Jefferson bought Louisiana without consulting the Indigenous nations who lived there #expands (0.70) — Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the…, 227