American University Law Review Volume 68 Issue 1 Article 4 2018 Indian Country and the Territory Clause: Washington's Promise at the Framing John Hayden Dossett Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/aulr Part of the Indian and Aboriginal Law Commons, Legal History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Dossett, John Hayden (2018) "Indian Country and the Territory Clause: Washington's Promise at the Framing," American University Law Review: Vol. 68 : Iss. 1 , Article 4. Available at: https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/aulr/vol68/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington College of Law Journals & Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in American University Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Indian Country and the Territory Clause: Washington's Promise at the Framing This article is available in American University Law Review: https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/aulr/vol68/ iss1/4 INDIAN COUNTRY AND THE TERRITORY CLAUSE: WASHINGTON’S PROMISE AT THE FRAMING JOHN HAYDEN DOSSETT* This Article explores the Territory Clause, Article IV, Section 3, as a source of power for federal laws in “Indian country,” as defined at 18 U.S.C § 1151. In contrast to plenary power doctrine, the Territory Clause offers a textual source of authority to regulate matters unrelated to commerce, such as criminal jurisdiction, in Indian country.