Viewed by the Cherokee as a "beloved man", Priber fell afoul of the ruling British for his vision against the envisioned commonwealth holding private property, and his support for their providing sanctuary to runaway slaves and debtors.
[1] Working in their community, he advocated a communal society, the idea of which he based on Plato's Republic;[1] he envisioned that a united confederation made up of all the native tribes in the region could play off the different colonial powers, Spain, France, and England, and strengthen their hold on tribal land.
[1] Priber opposed private property and supported refuge for runaway slaves and debtors in Cherokee territory as part his utopian vision.
[1] The British-allied Creeks captured him en route to New Orleans in 1743, and he was handed over to the British colonial authorities and imprisoned in Frederica, Georgia.
[citation needed] Priber wed Christiane Dorothea Hoffmann, the daughter of a merchant, printer, and Senator, in November 1722.