They were very much further advanced than were the Algonquin nations of the north.
Unlike most mountaineers the Cherokees were not held to be very formidable fighters, when compared with their fellows of the lowlands.[8] In 1760 and 1761 they had waged a fierce war with the whites, had ravaged the Carolina borders, had captured British forts, and successfully withstood British armies; but though they had held their own in the field, it had been at the cost of ruinous losses.

Since that period they had been engaged in long wars with the Chickasaws and Creeks, and had been worsted by both.

Moreover, they had been much harassed by the northern Indians.

So they were steadily declining in power and numbers.[9] Though divided linguistically into two races, speaking different dialects, the Otari and Erati, the political divisions did not follow the lines of language.

There were three groups of towns, the Upper, Lower, and Middle; and these groups often acted independently of one another.