Final answer:
The Cherokee peoples attempted to maintain their sovereignty by establishing a constitutional government in 1827, adopting a system similar to the American government with a three-branch system including a judiciary. The correct answer is option a.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Cherokee peoples attempted to maintain their sovereignty by establishing a constitutional government. In 1827, the Cherokee Nation responded to pressures from encroaching American society by adopting a constitution modeled after the American system. This move demonstrated a strategic adaptation intended for survival, which included a three-branch system of government featuring a principal chief, a two-house legislature, and an independent judiciary with a Supreme Court.
Despite their efforts to acculturate and integrate aspects of Anglo-American culture such as English language, Christianity, literacy with their own newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix, as well as agricultural and economic development including the ownership of plantations and slaves, the desire for their lands by white settlers remained unabated. This culminated in the forced removal of the Cherokee people, notoriously known as the Trail of Tears, alongside other tribes including the Muscogee (Creek), Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole as part of the Indian Removal Act and the subsequent impact on Native American populations.
The Cherokee's adoption of a constitutional government was a significant measure in their attempt to assert and preserve their sovereignty, but the overwhelming pressure from the state of Georgia and the federal government led to the dire outcome of forced relocation.