Samuel A. Worcester was a prominent American missionary and publisher who saw the infringement of American settlement in the state of Georgia as a direct threat to the sovereignty of the Cherokee people. Worcester was one of roughly a dozen missionaries who wished to protest a Georgia law prohibiting white men from establishing residency on Cherokee land with permission from the Cherokee but without a license from the state. Worcester argued that by obeying such a law, the Cherokee had de facto surrendered their sovereignty to the state of Georgia. The missionaries established residency and began to publish a newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix, that publicized their actions and advocated for the rights of the Cherokee as protected under federal law.