⚡ THE UNITED STATES OPERATES AS A ROGUE STATE — A NATION THAT CLAIMS THE BENEFITS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW WHILE REFUSING TO BE BOUND BY ITS OBLIGATIONS.

The U.S. legal system is not a system of justice. It is a system of power — designed to protect the interests of those who created it, not to uphold universal principles of right and wrong.
The “rule of law” in the United States is a myth. The real rule is:
“usa make the rules. usa enforce the rules. And usa change the rules when they don’t serve usa.”

⚡ CRITICAL POINT:

The United States was founded on the Doctrine of Discovery — a series of Papal Bulls (1452-1493) that declared European Christians had the right to claim lands inhabited by non-Christians. Indigenous peoples were never consulted.

The U.S. Supreme Court adopted the Doctrine of Discovery in Johnson v. McIntosh (1823), declaring that Indigenous peoples only had “right of occupancy,” not full title to their lands. This was NOT a treaty. It was a unilateral imposition by a foreign power’s religious decree.

Key Legal Facts:
1. The Doctrine of Discovery was a religious fiction — never agreed to by Indigenous peoples.
2. The U.S. Constitution explicitly protected slavery (Three-Fifths Compromise, Slave Trade Clause, Fugitive Slave Clause).
3. Enslaved Africans were defined as property — never consulted, never consented.
4. The 13th Amendment (1865) abolished slavery with an exception for “punishment for crime” — creating the convict leasing system, a continuation of slavery by another name.
5. Indigenous nations and enslaved Africans were never parties to any treaty or compact establishing the United States.
6. Under international law, crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations. The “standing” objection is a domestic procedural bar that cannot override jus cogens norms.

THE GENOCIDE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND THE ENSLAVEMENT OF AFRICANS

The United States did not acquire its territory through peaceful negotiation or mutual consent. The Doctrine of Discovery was merely a religious pretext—a legal fiction used to justify a campaign of genocide, dispossession, and enslavement that continues to this day. Critically, no Indigenous nation ever consented to U.S. sovereignty over their lands. No African ever consented to their enslavement. The U.S. employed violence and military might to defeat opposition to their take-over of native lands and to maintain the institution of slavery. Bloodshed and widespread destruction resulted from the final overthrow of indigenous political authorities and the brutal enforcement of the slave system.

The Pequot Massacre (1637)

The Pequot Massacre was one of the first genocidal acts against Indigenous peoples in what would become the United States. English settlers, with the help of Indigenous allies, attacked a Pequot village at Mystic, Connecticut.

Approximately 500-700 Pequot men, women, and children were burned alive or killed as they tried to escape the flames. The English commander, Captain John Mason, wrote: “God laughed his enemies and the enemies of his people to scorn, making them as a fiery oven… Thus did the Lord judge the heathen.” Survivors were sold into slavery in the Caribbean.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony declared a “Day of Thanksgiving” for the massacre. This was not a war. It was genocide.

King Philip’s War (1675-1678)

King Philip’s War was one of the bloodiest conflicts in American history relative to population. English colonists and their allies fought against a coalition of Indigenous nations led by Metacom (King Philip) of the Wampanoag.

Approximately 3,000 Indigenous people were killed — a devastating percentage of the Indigenous population. Thousands more were sold into slavery in the Caribbean and Europe. The war effectively ended Indigenous resistance in southern New England.

Metacom was captured, beheaded, and his head was displayed on a pike in Plymouth for 25 years. His wife and son were sold into slavery.

The Trail of Tears: The Forced Removal of the Five Civilized Tribes (1830-1850)

The Indian Removal Act of 1830, signed by President Andrew Jackson, authorized the forced removal of Indigenous nations from their ancestral lands east of the Mississippi River. The Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole nations — known as the “Five Civilized Tribes” — were forcibly marched to present-day Oklahoma.

Approximately 100,000 Indigenous people were displaced. An estimated 15,000-20,000 died along the way from disease, starvation, and exposure. The Cherokee Nation had successfully sued the state of Georgia in the Supreme Court (Worcester v. Georgia, 1832), and the Court ruled that the Cherokee had sovereignty. President Jackson famously responded: “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.” He ignored the ruling and proceeded with removal.

The Trail of Tears was not a treaty. It was ethnic cleansing. The Cherokee never consented.

The Sand Creek Massacre (1864)

On November 29, 1864, Colonel John Chivington led a U.S. Army attack on a peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho village at Sand Creek, Colorado Territory. The village had been promised protection by the U.S. government and was flying an American flag and a white flag of surrender.

Approximately 150-200 Cheyenne and Arapaho were killed — mostly women, children, and elderly. Soldiers mutilated the bodies, scalping and dismembering them. Chivington later bragged that his troops had “killed 500 Indians” and that “nits make lice” — justifying the murder of children.

A subsequent military investigation condemned the massacre, but no one was ever punished. Chivington was never held accountable.

The Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)

The Wounded Knee Massacre was the final act of the Indian Wars. On December 29, 1890, the U.S. 7th Cavalry surrounded a group of Lakota (Sioux) at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota.

Approximately 250-300 Lakota men, women, and children were killed — 150 of whom were women and children. The cavalry used Hotchkiss guns (rapid-fire cannons) to cut down the fleeing Lakota. 25 U.S. soldiers were killed, mostly by friendly fire.

The massacre ended the Indian Wars. The Lakota were defeated. The U.S. government awarded 20 Medals of Honor to the soldiers who participated in the massacre. To this day, the medals have never been revoked.

The California Indian Genocide (1846-1873)

The California Gold Rush triggered one of the worst genocides in American history. Between 1846 and 1873, approximately 100,000-150,000 California Indians were killed — a 90% reduction in the Indigenous population of California.

The causes included:
– Systematic massacres by militias and vigilantes
– Forced labor and enslavement (California legalized Indigenous enslavement in 1850)
– Disease (introduced by settlers)
– Starvation (as lands were taken and food sources destroyed)
– Government-sanctioned bounty programs (the state paid bounties for Indian scalps)

The California state government offered bounties of $5 to $25 for Indian scalps — a literal price on the heads of Indigenous people. This was state-sponsored genocide.

The Navajo Long Walk (1864)

In 1864, the U.S. Army forced the Navajo people to walk 300 miles from their homeland in Arizona to a reservation at Bosque Redondo in New Mexico. The journey, known as the “Long Walk,” was brutal.

Approximately 9,000 Navajo were forced to march. Over 200 died along the way from disease, starvation, and cold. At the reservation, conditions were terrible — the land was barren, the water was bad, and disease was rampant. Thousands more died during their four-year imprisonment.

The Navajo were finally allowed to return to their homeland in 1868, but they had lost their sovereignty and much of their land. They had never consented to removal.

The Native American Boarding School System (1870s-1960s)

The U.S. government established a system of over 400 boarding schools for Indigenous children across the United States. The stated goal was to “kill the Indian, save the man.”

Children were forcibly taken from their families — often at gunpoint — and sent to distant schools where they were:
– Forbidden to speak their languages (beaten if they did)
– Forced to adopt Christian names and beliefs
– Subjected to physical, sexual, and psychological abuse
– Given inadequate food, clothing, and medical care
– Thousands died from disease, abuse, and neglect

The schools were deliberately designed to destroy Indigenous cultures and identities. This was cultural genocide. The last boarding school did not close until 1978.

The U.S. Constitution: A Compact of White Supremacy

The U.S. Constitution — the foundational legal document of the United States — explicitly protected slavery and excluded Indigenous peoples. Let us document each clause:

The 13th Amendment: Freedom with a Catch

The 13th Amendment (1865) abolished slavery — but with a critical exception:

“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

The exception was immediately exploited to create the convict leasing system — where formerly enslaved people were arrested for minor offenses, leased to plantations and factories, and forced to work without pay.

The Doctrine of Discovery: The Fictional Legal Foundation

The legal foundation for European colonization of Turtle Island was not a treaty with Indigenous peoples. It was a series of unilateral religious decrees issued by the Catholic Church — the Doctrine of Discovery.

The U.S. Supreme Court explicitly adopted the Doctrine of Discovery in Johnson v. McIntosh (1823). Chief Justice John Marshall wrote:

“The tribes of Indians inhabiting this country were fierce savages, whose occupation was war, and whose subsistence was drawn chiefly from the forest. To leave them in possession of their country was to leave the country a wilderness… The principle of discovery gave European nations an exclusive right to extinguish the Indian title of occupancy, either by purchase or by conquest.”

The Doctrine of Discovery was not a treaty. It was a justification for theft.

The Broken Treaties

The United States signed over 370 treaties with Indigenous nations between 1778 and 1871. The vast majority were broken by the U.S. government.

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MEMORANDUM OF ARGUMENT

ON BEHALF OF THE PLAINTIFFS

IN THE MATTER OF: The Claim of the Indigenous Nations of Turtle Island (the land now known as the United States of America) and the Descendants of Enslaved Africans against The United States of America, The Congress of the United States, The President of the United States, and The States of the United States.

PHASE 1: PRELIMINARY SUBMISSIONS ON HISTORICAL AND LEGAL FOUNDATIONS

I. INTRODUCTION

1. This Memorandum is submitted on behalf of the Plaintiffs, comprising:

• Category A: The Indigenous Nations of Turtle Island — including the Cherokee Nation, the Navajo Nation, the Lakota Nation (Sioux), the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee), the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the Chickasaw Nation, the Choctaw Nation, the Seminole Nation, the Apache Nations, the Pueblo Peoples, the Inuit Peoples, the Native Hawaiian Peoples, the Alaskan Native Peoples, and all other Indigenous Nations and Peoples who inhabited the lands now known as the United States prior to European contact, and who never voluntarily ceded their sovereignty to the United States of America.
• Category B: The Descendants of Enslaved Africans — the African American descendants of approximately 4 million enslaved Africans who were forcibly brought to the United States and held in bondage from 1619 to 1865, and all other descendants of enslaved Africans who were subjected to chattel slavery, legally protected by the U.S. Constitution, and who never consented to their enslavement or to the government that enforced it.
• Category C: The Descendants of Indigenous Peoples Enslaved — Native Americans who were enslaved by European settlers and survivors of forced removals, massacres, and cultural genocide.

2. The core contention of the Plaintiffs is that the legal foundation of the colonial construct known as the United States of America is fundamentally flawed and unlawful. The United States was created through a series of unilateral acts — the Doctrine of Discovery, the U.S. Constitution, and subsequent laws — imposed without the consent of Indigenous peoples or enslaved Africans. These acts were procured through force and are therefore void ab initio.

3. This Memorandum serves as Phase 1 of our submission, dedicated to establishing the historical and legal context. The Plaintiffs will demonstrate that the United States is a colonial construct with no lawful foundation in the consent of its peoples. Subsequent phases will build upon this foundation to advance the primary legal arguments, including those based on jus cogens and coercion under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

II. THE DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY WAS A RELIGIOUS FICTION, NOT A TREATY

4. The foundational legal instrument upon which the United States based its claim to Indigenous lands was not a treaty with Indigenous peoples. It was the Doctrine of Discovery — a series of unilateral religious decrees issued by the Catholic Church.

5. The Papal Bulls that established the Doctrine of Discovery include:

• Dum Diversas (1452): Authorized the enslavement of “Saracens” and “other enemies of Christ.”
• Romanus Pontifex (1455): Authorized European Christian nations to “subdue and bring to the faith” non-Christian peoples and to “take possession” of their lands.
• Inter Caetera (1493): Granted Spain the right to claim lands discovered in the Americas, declaring that “barbarous nations” could be “subjugated” and “brought to the faith.”

6. These papal bulls were not treaties. Indigenous peoples were not parties to them. They were unilateral religious decrees issued by a foreign power that had no authority over Indigenous peoples. The Doctrine of Discovery was a legal fiction invented to justify theft.

7. The U.S. Supreme Court explicitly adopted the Doctrine of Discovery in Johnson v. McIntosh (1823). Chief Justice John Marshall wrote:

“The principle of discovery gave European nations an exclusive right to extinguish the Indian title of occupancy, either by purchase or by conquest.”

8. The Doctrine of Discovery was void ab initio (void from the beginning) because:

• It was a religious fiction, not a legal instrument.
• It was never agreed to by Indigenous peoples.
• It violated the sovereignty of Indigenous nations.
• It was based on racist and genocidal assumptions.
• It is rejected by modern international law (UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples).

III. THE U.S. CONSTITUTION WAS NOT CONSENTED TO BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OR ENSLAVED AFRICANS

9. The U.S. Constitution — the foundational legal document of the United States — explicitly protected slavery and excluded Indigenous peoples.

10. The Constitution’s protection of slavery included:

• The Three-Fifths Compromise (Article I, Section 2, Clause 3): Counted enslaved people as 3/5 of a person for representation, giving slave states more political power.
• The Slave Trade Clause (Article I, Section 9, Clause 1): Prohibited Congress from banning the slave trade until 1808 — explicitly protecting the slave trade for 20 years.
• The Fugitive Slave Clause (Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3): Required that enslaved people who escaped to free states be returned to their enslavers — making the federal government complicit in enforcing slavery.
• Article V: Protected the slave trade clause from amendment until 1808 — making slavery a constitutionally protected institution.

11. Indigenous peoples were explicitly excluded from the Constitution. Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 states: “excluding Indians not taxed.” Indigenous peoples were not considered part of the political community.

12. Enslaved Africans were defined as property, not persons. The Constitution protected their enslavement. They never consented to the Constitution. They were never asked.

13. The Constitution was ratified by a tiny minority of the population. Only white male property owners could vote — approximately 10-15% of the total population. Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans, women, and poor white men were excluded.

IV. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES NEVER CEDED THEIR SOVEREIGNTY

14. Prior to European contact, the lands now known as the United States were inhabited by hundreds of distinct Indigenous nations, each with their own sovereignty, governments, and legal systems.

15. Indigenous nations entered into treaties with the United States as sovereign nations. The U.S. Constitution recognizes treaties as “the supreme Law of the Land.”

16. The United States has systematically violated its treaty obligations. Over 370 treaties were signed; the vast majority were broken by the U.S. government. Examples include:

• The Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) — promised the Black Hills to the Lakota people “forever.” The U.S. broke the treaty after gold was discovered.
• The Treaty of Hopewell (1785) — promised the Cherokee nation their land and sovereignty. The U.S. broke the treaty.
• The Treaty of New Echota (1835) — signed without the consent of the Cherokee Nation’s elected leaders; used to justify the Trail of Tears.

17. Indigenous nations were never lawfully conquered. The U.S. Supreme Court’s “domestic dependent nations” doctrine (Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 1831) was a legal fiction invented to justify U.S. control. Indigenous nations retain their inherent sovereignty.

V. ENSLAVED AFRICANS NEVER CONSENTED TO THEIR ENSLAVEMENT

18. Between 1525 and 1866, approximately 12.5 million Africans were forcibly taken to the Americas. Approximately 597,000 were brought to what is now the United States.

19. At the start of the Civil War (1860), approximately 4 million Africans were enslaved in the United States. They constituted approximately 40% of the Southern population.

20. Enslaved Africans were legally defined as property under state and federal law. They could not vote, testify in court, marry legally, or own property. They were not citizens under the Constitution.

21. Enslaved Africans were not parties to the Constitution. They were the subjects of it. They never consented to their enslavement or to the government that enforced it.

22. The 13th Amendment (1865) abolished slavery but created a loophole for convict leasing. The exception for “punishment for crime” was exploited to create a system of forced labor that continued slavery by another name.

VI. THE LEGAL ARGUMENT: COERCION AND JUS COGENS

23. The Plaintiffs submit that the foundational instruments of the United States were procured through coercion and in violation of fundamental norms of international law.

24. Jus cogens (peremptory norms) are norms so fundamental that no treaty or law can violate them. These include:

• The prohibition on genocide
• The prohibition on slavery
• The prohibition on racial discrimination
• The prohibition on aggression
• The right to self-determination

25. The International Law Commission has confirmed that jus cogens norms have retroactive effect. They apply to historical wrongs, even if they occurred before the norms were formally recognized.

26. Under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969), Article 52:

“A treaty is void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force in violation of the principles of international law embodied in the Charter of the United Nations.”

27. The Doctrine of Discovery was procured by force and is void. The U.S. Constitution was procured through the exclusion and enslavement of Indigenous peoples and Africans and is void to the extent it violates jus cogens.

VII. THE “STANDING” OBJECTION IS OVERRIDDEN BY INTERNATIONAL LAW

28. The United States will likely argue that the Plaintiffs lack “standing” because the wrongs are “historical” and “too remote.” This objection is overridden by international law.

29. Crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations. The Geneva Conventions and the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity (1968) state:

“No statutory limitation shall apply to the following crimes, irrespective of the date of their commission: (a) War crimes… (b) Crimes against humanity… (c) Genocide…”

30. The “continuing violation” doctrine means that the harm is ongoing. Indigenous peoples continue to be dispossessed. Descendants of enslaved Africans continue to suffer from poverty, discrimination, and mass incarceration. The injury is NOT historical — it is present and continuing.

31. Erga omnes obligations are owed to the international community as a whole. Every state has standing to enforce them. The Plaintiffs are bringing this action on behalf of humanity itself.

32. Indigenous nations are sovereign and have standing as states under international law. The United States cannot use its domestic “standing” doctrine to deny standing to sovereign nations.

33. If the United States refuses to recognize international law, it admits it is a rogue state. A state that refuses to be bound by international law forfeits its legitimacy and status as a lawful member of the international community.

VIII. THE RELIEF SOUGHT

34. The Plaintiffs respectfully request the following relief:

For Indigenous Nations:

• A declaration that the Doctrine of Discovery is void and has no legal force.
• A declaration that Indigenous nations retain their inherent sovereignty.
• The return of all lands taken without lawful consent.
• Compensation for lands that cannot be returned.
• The restoration of all treaty rights that have been violated.
• The right to self-governance, free from U.S. interference.
• Reparations for the genocide and cultural destruction of Indigenous peoples.

For Descendants of Enslaved Africans:

• A formal apology from the U.S. government for slavery and its legacy.
• Reparations for the unpaid labor of enslaved people.
• The establishment of a trust fund for African American education, housing, and economic development.
• A commission to study and recommend additional forms of restitution.
• The right to self-determination and community control over reparations funds.

For All Plaintiffs:

• A declaration that the United States was founded on genocide and slavery, and that this foundation taints all subsequent legal instruments.
• A constitutional convention to create a new founding document based on justice, consent, and equality.
• A truth and reconciliation commission to document the full extent of genocide, slavery, and continuing harm.

IX. CONCLUSION

35. The Plaintiffs submit that:

“The United States of America is a colonial construct founded on genocide, slavery, and the systematic denial of consent. Its legal foundation is fundamentally illegitimate. Indigenous nations never consented to U.S. sovereignty. Enslaved Africans never consented to their enslavement. The United States owes restitution to both.”

36. The Plaintiffs humbly pray that this Court shall:

1. Declare the Doctrine of Discovery void ab initio.
2. Declare that Indigenous nations retain their inherent sovereignty.
3. Order the return of lands taken without consent.
4. Order reparations for the descendants of enslaved Africans.
5. Declare that the United States has violated jus cogens norms and erga omnes obligations.
6. Establish that the Plaintiffs have standing under international law.
7. Make such further orders and directions as this Honourable Court may deem fit in the circumstances.

Dated: [Insert Date]

Drawn by:

[Insert Counsel’s Name]

[Insert Counsel’s Address]

[Insert Counsel’s Contact Details]

SOURCES FOR PHASE 1

• Papal Bulls: Dum Diversas (1452), Romanus Pontifex (1455), Inter Caetera (1493) — establishing the Doctrine of Discovery.
• Johnson v. McIntosh (1823) — U.S. Supreme Court adopts the Doctrine of Discovery.
• Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) — Supreme Court invents “domestic dependent nations” doctrine.
• Worcester v. Georgia (1832) — Supreme Court acknowledges Indigenous sovereignty (ignored by President Jackson).
• Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) — Supreme Court declares enslaved people are property.
• U.S. Constitution (1787) — Explicitly protects slavery; excludes Indigenous peoples.
• 13th Amendment (1865) — Abolishes slavery with exception for “crime.”
• Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) — Articles 52 and 53 on coercion and jus cogens.
• Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity (1968) — No statute of limitations.
• UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) — Rejects the Doctrine of Discovery.
• Geneva Conventions (1949) — Crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations.
• International Court of Justice, Barcelona Traction case (1970) — Establishes erga omnes obligations.
• International Law Commission — Jus cogens norms have retroactive effect.
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown — Documents the genocide of Indigenous peoples.
• The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones — Documents the role of slavery in American history.
• The Report of the National Museum of the American Indian — Documents the boarding school system.
• The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada — Parallel to the U.S. experiences.

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