<span>By refusing to consider Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), the Supreme Court denied self-government to a Native American tribe. Prior to 1831, the federal government treated tribes as foreign entities in conducting official interactions with them. In an effort to keep their tribal lands, the Cherokee living within Georgia turned to farming and ranching. They also wrote a constitution and laws reflecting some aspects of U.S. law. The state of Georgia declared all the Cherokee laws void, prompting that nation to appeal to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the opinion dismissing the case, saying that Indian tribes were "domestic dependent nations" and could not turn to the Supreme Court. The case's dismissal allowed Georgia to strip the tribe of its governmental forms. </span>
The Puritans in Massachusetts Bay believed in a separation of church and state, but not a separa- tion of the state from God. The Congregational Church had no for- mal authority in the government. Ministers were not permitted to hold any government office. ... Puritan lawmaking touched all aspects of life.
The cultures of Mesopotamia are considered civilizations because their people: had written, had settled communities in the form of villages, planted their own food, had domesticated animals, and had different orders of workers.
