Was there any genuine debate in the pre-1860 United States regarding Native American sovereignty?

Question

The United States treated Native American tribes as sovereign states. Relations with various tribes were governed by a series of (often broken) treaties. At the same time, however, general territorial claims in North America were resolved between the United States and other powers as if the Native American tribes didn't exist. The Louisiana Purchase wasn't negotiated with the individual tribes living in the Missouri River watershed; it was negotiated with France. Territorial settlements with Great Britain, Russia, and Mexico were negotiated without input from Native Americans occupying the territories in question. Did the US government regard *some* Native Americans as sovereign, and some as not-sovereign? In cases where the Native Americans were not sovereign, why weren't the Native Americans regarded as citizens? Was there any debate about this at all, or were these questions resolved on the ground on an *ad hoc* basis?

Answer 1

The Supreme Court has actually hosted many cases throughout US History, particularly pre-1860, about this exact issue. In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, the Cherokee sued to the Supreme Court because of laws passed in Georgia that were stated to include the tribal lands. The supreme court heard the case, but did not actually issue a ruling because it had no merit as the court saw the Indian tribes not as sovereign nations who could sue an foreign power, but as a "dependent nation" that had a relationship more like a "ward to its caretaker." However, a few years later, a similar case was heard in Worcester v. Georgia, in which the supreme court did find that tribes had total sovereignty within the United States. In was in response to this case that Andrew Jackson stated that Chief Justice Marshall "had made his decision, now let him enforce it." Jackson ignored it as he saw the Judicial branch as having no real power to enforce decisions (no military, etc) so he went ahead with the Indian Removal Act.

The end of this issue of sovereignty came with the Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 - this act stated as law that Indian tribes were NOT sovereign nations and therefore no treaties were necessary to be brokered between the two. The US could make what were essentially unilateral decisions at this point.