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[[File:Conquest_by_law.jpeg|left|300px|thumbnail|<i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195314891/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195314891&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=0c7dcb7983a2a7294c7dc12a32ffce18 Conquest by Law: How the Discovery of America Dispossessed Indigenous Peoples of Their Lands]</i>by Lindsay G. Robertson]]By Chris Sudol <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195314891/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195314891&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=0c7dcb7983a2a7294c7dc12a32ffce18 Conquest by Law: How the Discovery of America Dispossessed Indigenous Peoples of Their Lands]</i> by Lindsay G. Robertson explores how the US United States Supreme Court case <i>Johnson v. M’Intosh</i> and the announcement of the discovery doctrine in 1823 by Chief Justice John Marshall resulted in the unintended consequence of unintentionally facilitated American Indian removal. Marshall’s successive attempt to reverse his ruling in <i>Johnson</i> proved futile as <i>Worcester v. Georgia</i> failed to prevent the American Indian removal by Jackson in the 1830s. As a result of how these circumstances played out, court rulings on the removal of indigenous peoples, Robertson declares, should be revisited.
Robertson’s work is broken up into six chronological chapters. He first introduces Johnson v. M’Intosh in the preface. In the preface, he further suggests that the discovery of the Americas was the most significant event as it pertained to land rights and American Indian sovereignty. Robertson’s observation is justified as the early modern era of American history was that of new encounters and exchanges between invading European customs and values of preexisting inhabitants and users of the land.
Lindsay G. Robertson explains the Johnson v. M’Intosh ruling and its unintended consequences to prove his thesis. Robertson also provides evidence on how the discovery doctrine came to be and that its implementation should be reconsidered. Robertson provided a detailed timeline which proves useful to the reader as this book is packed with detail. Besides, the author thoroughly explores other court cases and events which impacted and were impacted by Marshall’s ruling in Johnson v. M’Intosh. Robertson’s book is a critical addition to the historiography of American legal and colonial history and establishes a shift in how American colonialism is critiqued and revisited.
[[Category:Book Review]] [[Category:Native American History]] [[Category:Wikis]] [[Category:Legal History]] [[Category:United States History]] [[Category:19th Century History]]
