Despite these various setbacks, the Cherokee rebuilt their lives. They learned from the settlers around them, adopting new methods of farming and business. They became faithful allies of the Americans, even fighting with them under Andrew Jackson in the Creek War of 1813. A Cherokee chief named Junaluska personally saved Jackson’s life from a tomahawk-swinging Creek warrior at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. In 1820, the Cherokee established among themselves a republican form of government, similar to that of the United States. In 1827, they founded the Cherokee Nation under a constitution with an elected principal chief, a senate, and a house of representatives.
Much of the progress among the Cherokee resulted from the work of Sequoyah, also known as George Gist. In 1809, he began working on a written version of the Cherokee language so that his people could have a written constitution, official records, books, and newspapers. Over a 12-year period, he devised a written system that reduced the Cherokee language to 85 characters representing all the different sounds. Sequoyah is the only person in history to invent singlehandedly an entire alphabet (or a syllabary, because the characters represent syllables). In 1821, he finished his vast project. In 1827, tribal leaders wrote down their constitution. And in 1828, the first Cherokee newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix, was published in their language.
World History
