John ross, cherokee chief children

As the head of the largest branch of the Cherokee nation from to , John Ross led the Cherokee through a period of profound cultural change. Under Ross's leadership, the Cherokee nation engaged in a historic and controversial legal battle to preserve their sovereignty and underwent a disastrous forced march from Georgia to Oklahoma.

Who was the chief of the cherokee tribe during the trail of tears

Ross was born near Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, on October 3, Although he was only one-eighth Cherokee by blood, Cherokee cultural identity in the early s was as much a matter of upbringing and choice as genetics, and Ross was raised and considered himself a Cherokee. In at age nineteen, Ross was sent, at the behest of both U. Ross's quiet and reserved manner inspired confidence among both whites and Indians, and his skill at easing the tensions with the western Cherokee greatly increased his influence within the Cherokee nation.

Ross served as President of the National Council of the Cherokee from to and became principal chief of the eastern Cherokee in He thought the Cherokee could benefit from adopting certain aspects of European-American culture. Accordingly, with the help of two other Cherokee leaders, Major Ridge and Charles Hicks, Ross convinced many Cherokee to convert from an economy based on hunting and the fur trade to one of agriculture.

Some Cherokee adopted the Southern tradition of. By the s many members of the Cherokee nation were among the wealthiest individuals in what is now north Georgia. Ross himself was a slaveholder with a two hundred—acre farm. A well-educated man, Ross promoted literacy and education, advocating that all Cherokee utilize the achievement of Sequoia, the Cherokee who had created a written lexicography for the Cherokee language.

Ross's efforts brought the Cherokee from near illiteracy to over 90 percent literacy in less than three years. Ross also supported the efforts of Christian Congregationalist missionaries who wished to set up schools in Cherokee territory. When it became apparent that the missionaries' primary objective was religious conversion rather than education, however, Ross informed them that they could stay only if they focused on education.

The missionaries complied.