Dictionary.net

An important case in the U. S. Supreme Court. In 1792 Alexander Chisholm, of South Carolina, brought suit against the State of Georgia for the payment of a private claim. Counsel for the plaintiff argued that this court was vested by the Constitution with jurisdiction in cases of this sort, and that the plaintiff could legally recover. The court found judgment for the plaintiff upon this ground, and a writ of inquiry was issued, but never executed, since the Legislature of Georgia passed an act making the execution of such a writ punishable by death. The Eleventh Amendment was at once resolved upon. In 1798 the Supreme Court declared the Eleventh Amendment to have been constitutionally adopted, and renounced its jurisdiction in such cases.