543 (1823), also written M‘Intosh, is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that held that private citizens could not purchase lands from Native Americans.

As the facts were recited by Chief Justice John Marshall, the successor in interest to a private purchase from the Piankeshaw attempted to maintain an action of ejectment against the holder of a federal land patent.

Marshall further opined that when it declared independence from the Crown, the United States government inherited the right of preemption over Native American lands.

The bestselling property casebook calls Johnson 'the genesis of our subject' because it lays 'the foundations of landownership in the United States.'

Johnson has joined Dred Scott v. Sandford and a few others to form a small canon (or maybe an anti-canon) of famous cases law students are taught to criticize.

"[10] In commenting on this public statement, Cardinal Michael Czerny referred to Johnson v. McIntosh as "an invention or creation of the U.S. Supreme Court in the 19th century" and stated it was "unfortunate" that "a very strongly church related word is used by the U.S. Supreme Court to name an idea or a historical process" (referring to the word "doctrine," which is used in both law and theology).

[11] Before the creation of any British colonies in North America (including those that became the United States), English law had already ceased to recognize any theological or legal authority of the Catholic Church and the Pope.