The Cherokee were forced into giving up most of their land in the eighteenth century. Through fraudulent treaties and unjust deals the Cherokee lost close to all of their land during this time. One of the biggest loses coming from "Henderson's Purchase", in Kentucky, 1775. In an effort to stop the complete takeover of all Indian land, the Cherokees go through a transformation in order to survive in a new world. "The great Cherokee renascence of 1794-1833 was the re-birth of that people in the image of the United States, yet with a difference." (McLoughlin, Preface)

The Cherokee renascence was an attempt to conform to a new economic and political society, through education in the legal and moral aspects of the society and its laws. In essence they are trying to fight fire with fire by obtaining the same mental arsenal...