In 1827, Major Ridge helped establish a Cherokee Nation with three branches of government in cooperation with which leader?

• A. John Ross
• B. Sequoyah
• C. Pushmataha
• D. Bushyhead

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is the Cherokee Nation adopting a formal, U.S.-style government structure in 1827, with three branches—executive, legislative, and judicial—to govern themselves and interact with the United States on equal terms. Major Ridge helped shape and promote this constitutional framework, working with John Ross, a leading Cherokee statesman who would become Principal Chief. Ross coordinated the political effort, guiding the creation of the government and the adoption of the constitution, while Ridge supported and advanced that vision within the Cherokee leadership. Sequoyah is known for creating the Cherokee syllabary, which enabled literacy, not for coordinating the government; Pushmataha was a Choctaw leader who died earlier, and Bushyhead appears in later periods. So the collaboration to establish the three-branch system was with John Ross.