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The Impact Of The American Doctrine Of Discovery On Native Land Rights In Australia, Canada, And New Zealand, Blake Watson

Blake A Watson

In Johnson v. McIntosh, Chief Justice John Marshall proclaimed that European discovery of America Agave exclusive title to those who made it;@ and diminished the power of Indians Ato dispose of the soil at their own will ….@ 21 U.S. 543, 574 (1823). Marshall presented a revised version of the discovery doctrine in Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832), yet it is Johnson that remains the leading decision on native property rights in the United States. The Johnson discovery rule has not only diminished native rights in the United States, but has also influenced the definition of indigenous land …