Cherokee Politics after European Influence
After relations with settlers, the Cherokee Indians decided to create their own constitution. This was to establish themselves as a nation and lay out the governmental structure of said nation. One important aspect of this Constitution is that the Cherokee nation was unable to write one until Sequoyah created the Cherokee language. In the picture to the left, you can see how this constitution was translated from the Cherokee language to English. This allowed the Cherokee people and settlers to read it. As mentioned, this document made obvious the influence of the settlers. This is evident through the creation of an executive, judicial and legislative branches of Cherokee government. The components of these three branches are very similar to their United States counterparts as well.
As the executive branch of the Cherokee Nation, this document created a Principal Chief. This office is strongly similar to the presidential office of the United States. The duties of a Principal Chief as laid out by this document is be informed on the state of the nation, approve or veto bills. The Principal Chief is to be elected by the General Council. Additionally, an office of Assistant Principal Chief was created by this document. This officer's main job is to take over the office of Principal Chief if needed. This office was to be voted on every four years. This is very similar to the Vice President. Finally, within the executive branch a Council was created. This council was created to advise the Principal chief. It's United States counterpart could be considered the Cabinet. Obviously, the offices and duties given to the executive branch of government is highly comparable to the United States executive branch of government.
Additionally, the judicial branch of government is very similar to that of the United States. This document created courts. There was a Supreme court that consisted of three judges. They would hold their position for four years and can be impeached. In addition, there were many smaller courts created. The judges are to be chosen by the legislative branch of the government. This is all very similar to the judicial branch of the United States government.
Finally, the Cherokee Nation created a legislative branch as well. Although they previously had Cherokee Nation Council, this document split them into two distinct bodies that functioned to create the whole. These include the committee and the council. They are very similar to the House and the Senate. Each division of the nation has representation in both the council and the committee. These representatives are elected. The primary duty of the this branch is to create laws that are for the common good of the Cherokee Nation. However, their other duties may include impeachment, treaty negotiations, etc. As discussed, this branch is vastly comparable to it's counterparts in the United States government.
Through the careful dissection of the first constitution of the Cherokee Nation, it is rather clear that the United States influenced their government. They have very distinct branches of government which can find almost identical counterparts of the government of the United States. Previously, the government of the Cherokee people was much less structured. Some may argue that the influence was positive while some would debate that it was negative. It is hard to say. However, it is clear that the pres