Chapter Seven: Launching the New Republic, 1788-1800 pg 191-221 Chapter Seven Lead-in pg 191 The 1790s were a decade marked by political and economic transformation. America was cautiously optimistic that the new Republic would offer them a secure future. Nancy Ward, a Cherokee Indian, was less optimistic, in her life she participated in combat, conducted diplomacy, released war captives. When she married a British trader, Bryant ward, she changed her name to Nancy ward from her Indian Nanye?hi.