Province of the Cherokee

The Province of the Cherokee was a British colony/Indian reserve which allowed the Cherokee to self-govern. The colony was a British colony in the loosest sense, nominally more of a British controlled Indian reserve similar to those found in the Ohio Country. The colony had a governor who largely resided in New Bern and thus was effectively powerless over the colony. However, the British formally incorporated the area as the former Aranese colonies of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina sought control over the land.

The Province of the Cherokee's original borders were largely undefined, with assumed borders at the Tennessee River, and an unknown border to the east. This changed in 1771 when proclamation line of 1763 was extended south and formed the eastern border of the province. The extension of the province angered many in the Atlantic Carolinian colonies and became a flash point between the colonies and Great Britain. Even following the Carolina Act of 1774 which gave land to Georgia, the colonists continued to object to the very presence of the colony. Since the Province of the Cherokee never signed the declaration of independence, it continued to be a de-jure British possession until it was ceded to the United States in 1783. The province briefly became the Territory of the Cherokee before being partitioned as North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and West Carolina all adjusted their boundaries.