Following the death of Robert Farquhar, his estate's executor, Alexander Chisholm—who, like Farquhar, was a South Carolina resident—sued the state of Georgia to collect money Georgia owed Farquhar for goods it purchased during the American Revolution. Georgia claimed that sovereign immunity protected it from Chisholm's suit. However, the Supreme Court held that Article III Section 2 gave citizens the right to sue a state, finding against Georgia.