What Did the Cherokee Trade?
The Cherokee primarily traded skins and furs for the settlers’ tools and weapons. Before the settlers arrived, the Cherokee had only hunted animals for their meat, so the trading significantly changed the Cherokee’s everyday lives.
The tools and weapons the Cherokee received also changed their lives by making it easier to hunt and prepare food. They received guns to replace their bow, arrows and many different cooking instruments. The Cherokee were also taught how to make things out of cotton and other trades materials from the settlers. The Cherokee people were eager for these advancements and appreciated the efficiency of the product.
However, the Cherokee stopped trading with the settlers when they suffered from many diseases that were brought over from Europe. They also began to lose trust in the settlers as they started to force the Cherokee to give away their land. The Cherokee decided to make and use their own tools without help from the settlers. Then, the Cherokee began to work to create their own democratic government to rally against the settlers and protect themselves from future pain. This new Cherokee government would oversee all future trade regulations and trade agreements including those within the tribe and those outside of the tribe.
