THE CHRONICLES OF OKLAHOMA

this nation, is, by our constitution and laws, vested in the government
of the United States. The act of the state of Georgia, under which the
plaintiff in error was prosecuted, is consequently void, and the judg-
ment a nullity.'8
Holding that the missionaries had been convicted under color of
a law "repugnant to the constitution, treaties and laws of the
United States," Marshall reversed their convictions.19 Two days
later, the Court issued a special mandate to the superior court of
Gwinett County, Georgia, ordering the missionaries' release. The
next moves belonged to Georgia and Andrew Jackson.
Historians still debate whether or not Jackson actually uttered
the words so commonly attributed to him in reaction to the Wor-
cester decision, that is, "John Marshall has made his decision; now
let him enforce it." The original report of the statement came from
Horace Greeley in 1864. Greeley cited as his source George N.
Briggs, a Massachusetts congressman at the time of the decision.20
The modern consensus appears to be that the quote as reported by
Greeley is most likely apocryphal, but the impossibility of defini-
tively "proving a negative" would seem to prevent a firm con-
clusion.
Regardless of whether or not Jackson actually uttered the fa-
mous words, most commentators agree that they accurately re-
flected his state of mind regarding the wisdom and viability of
Marshall's opinion. For example, in a letter to Brigadier General
John Coffee, dated April 7, 1832, Jackson wrote, "The decision of
the supreme court has fell still born, and they find they cannot
coerce Georgia to yield to its mandate."21 Jackson apparently felt
no obligation to assist the Court in any such attempted "coercion."
Historian Edwin A. Miles has gathered numerous other reported
indications of Jackson's dismissive attitude toward the decision.
Miles notes that on March 9, 1832, the New York Daily Advertiser
reported that the president had purportedly declared that "he has
as good a right, being a co-ordinate branch of the government, to
order the Supreme Court as the Court has to require him to
execute its decision."22 Similarly, Philadelphia's United States
Gazette reported shortly after the decision was announced that
Jackson had indicated "that he should not aid in carrying the
judgment into effect."23
While Jackson's general attitude toward the decision was thus
apparent, a strident academic debate continues over what might
be called Jackson's "culpability" in the aftermath of Worcester. As

22