also removed. When state judges intervened on behalf of Cherokee residents, they were harassed and denied jurisdiction over such cases. Cherokee reaction The new laws targeted the Cherokee leadership in particular. The hereditary chiefs were selected from men who belonged to the important clans of the matrilineal culture. They gained their status from their Cherokee mothers and their clans, although by this time, there were several of mixed race. Principal Chief John Ross was also of mixed race, and had tried to make use of his heritage to benefit the Cherokee in relations with whites. Since the Georgia laws made it illegal for the Cherokee to conduct national business, the National Council (the legislative body of the Cherokee Nation) cancelled the 1832 elections. It declared that current officials would retain their offices until elections could be held, and established an emergency government based in Tennessee. The Council tried to force Jackson's hand against Georgia by suing the state in federal courts and lobbying Congress to support Cherokee sovereignty. In 1832, the United States Supreme Court struck down Georgia's laws as unconstitutional in Worcester v. Georgia, ruling that only the federal government had power to deal with the Native American tribes, and the states had no power to pass legislation regulating their activities. However, the state ignored the ruling and continued to enforce the laws. Negotiations Jackson's initial proposal Shortly after the Supreme Court's ruling, Jackson met with John Ridge, clerk of the Cherokee National Council, who headed a Cherokee delegation that went to Washington, DC, to meet with him. When asked whether he would use federal force against Georgia, Jackson said he would not and urged Ridge to persuade the Cherokee to accept removal. Ridge, until then a supporter of the National Council's position, left the White House in despair. John McLean, a Jackson appointee to the Supreme Court, likewise urged the Cherokee representatives in Washington to negotiate. Jackson quickly dispatched Secretary of War Lewis Cass to present his terms, which included western land titles, self-government, relocation assistance, and several other long-term benefits—all conditioned on a total Cherokee removal. He would allow a small number of Cherokee to stay if they accepted state authority over them. In the following months, Ridge found supporters for the removal option, including his father Major Ridge and the major's nephews Elias Boudinot and Stand Watie. In October 1832, he urged the National Council to