Johansen, Bruce E. Forgotten Founders: How the American Indian Helped Shape Democracy. Boston: Harvard Common Press, 1982.

Introduction

The American system is markedly different from that of Britain, the country from which it separated. It encompasses ideas not used before in any successful nation. These definitive qualities did not just appear, however; they were a direct result of contact with the indigenous Americans. Such revered statesmen as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson experienced the lifestyles and beliefs of the natives, specifically the Six Nations of the Iroquois, and incorporated them into the government that they created.

Iroquois Governance

The Iroquois Nation of the American Colonial Period was composed of six nations, who followed a compact of peace set forth in a Great Law of Peace; this law was recorded on belts of wampum, for there were many parts to it. Generally though, the natives did not record much outside of oral tradition. This Great Law of Peace was created by Hiawatha, from a conception of Deganwidah, a Huron. It was conceived to end the constant infighting of the tribes in the present-day upstate New York area. Originally, only five nations were a part of this treaty: The Mohawks, Oneidas, Cayugas, Senecas, and Onondagas.

Process of legislation, what little occurred in the Five Nations, occurred in the Onondaga lands, near Syracuse, New York. A question would be presented to the "older brothers" the Seneca and Mohawk tribesmen first. When they agreed on a course of action, or inaction, it would proceed to the other side of the house, to the Cayuga and Oneida, the "younger brothers" who would debate as the others had before. The Onondagas, the firekeepers, would take the decision of the two sides and make a decision, generally based upon consensus. All decisions were unanimous, necessarily, though ties in the votes of the four tribes could be broken by the Onondaga vote. This tribe could also force reconsideration of an issue if it did not agree with the popular consensus.

The Great Law of Peace qualified statesmen as well. Chiefs were generally nominated by the women of a family who held a title to chieftainship. These chiefs were held to rules by the women who nominated them. They had to attend councils, and were constantly scrutinized for clues that they were truly thinking of the welfare of the people. Their conduct had to be exemplary, with only three perceived errors allowed. Beyond that, the chief would be removed from the council.

Heredity was not the only manner of becoming a chief. The Great Law also held provision for a "pine-tree" chief to be elected. These were nominated by the chiefs currently on the council, but were not subject to the same stringent rules for following laws as the hereditary ones. They could not be deposed, though they could be ignored, which effectively ended their tenure. No chief could carry his title to the grave. There was a ceremony outlined in the Law for the removal of title before death.

Checks and balances were evident in the Iroquois nation. Factions were discouraged by a clan system that did not follow the tribal boundaries, so no tribe would be unified by clan. This practice made tribal kin sometimes of different clan, which prevented one tribe from gaining supremacy in the League. Even the sexes could check each other. Descent followed the maternal line, and the women held control of resources as well as nominations for chieftainships.

American Imitation

The American Nation when it was first established showed a great imitation to the practices of the indigenous councils. The first American Government, the Articles of Confederation, was a closer match to the Iroquois method than to British Parliament. This document allowed for a loose union of 13 independent states, much like the Iroquois union of six independent Nations. All decisions made had to be unanimous, which though effective for the Natives, failed for the states.

The Articles also reflected the lack of judiciary that the Iroquois government possessed. There was little if any interstate accountability, much as there was little between the nations, as long as the Great Law was followed. No executive power existed within this system, either, much like that of the Iroquois.

Permeable Borders and Open Minds

Intercultural mixing had obviously occurred for this much similarity to appear between a nascent government and one long-standing. Much of this is due to the permeable borders of the Iroquois. Their Law allowed for naturalization of persons, as long as the Law was obeyed. Many notable Americans took advantage of this form of intercourse. Benjamin Franklin was among these, at first simply because his printing business found that written copies of treaties with the Iroquois and other tribes sold well on the American and European markets.

Franklin, and later, Thomas Jefferson, became great admirers of the Iroquois lifestyle. They spent much time at treaty meetings with the Iroquois, creating land transactions, and setting boundaries past which settlers could not move without further treating. Many of these meetings were held in Albany, New York. They admired how popular opinion governed much of native life. If a chief was though of badly, his career as a chief was ended. Unanimous decisions were not hard to come by once debate had occurred. The Iroquois prized oratory in their statesmen, and thus, the best speakers won the nominations to both sorts of chieftainships. In the chiefs, the Euro-Americans saw the prototypical public servant: the chief was by necessity the poorest of his tribe, allowing all gifts to be picked over first by his people, then taking the leftovers, or the worst of the offerings, as a sign that his people were ahead of him in his dealings.

Also, the Euro-Americans found the Iroquois lifestyle to be quite a good deal happier than their own. It was noted by Franklin that once a man had experienced the freedom and simplicity of the indigenous life, he could not go back to his old life of acquisition and survival and be satisfied. The almost socialist aspects of the Iroquois impressed the Euro-American statesmen. Here, there was no gap between the rich and the poor that caused some to live in plenty, while others lived with nothing. Resources were allocated as needed by the females. Though the colonists did not see the place of the female as one directly influential, they admired the native placement of the woman for the function she performed.

This admiration influenced the Founding Fathers greatly as they drafted the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson, in this piece, substituted "happiness" for "property" in the Locke-inspired trio of beliefs that he espoused. Johansen, in this book, points to his Iroquois experience as the catalyst to this change in wording, not any elitist motive. Jefferson was honestly motivated, he proposes, by the ideal that happiness was attainable through liberty and simplicity, such as that practiced by the American Indian.

Religion

The Iroquois practiced a religion that to the Euro-Americans was quite heathen. Preachers and ministers alike spent hours with their best sermons attempting to convert these "savages," and found, to their astonishment, that the natives accepted their speeches, commended their oratory, and refused to believe their points. Instead of conversion, the Iroquois offered their own belief systems. The colonists, such as Franklin and Jefferson, who followed the Deistic principles found this religion of the natives refreshing, used as they were to Christianity and its vast trappings.

On the opposite side, the colonists used religious services as places to fix trade prices, which would then use against the natives. Thus, the Iroquois tradesmen found themselves losing in the sale of their products, because no colonial trader would offer a better price for their beaver pelts and other goods.

Conclusion

Bruce Johansen, in his book, Forgotten Founders: How the American Indian Helped Shape Democracy, looks not only at the governmental aspects of the Iroquois nation, but also at the social effects that these natives had on the British colonists in the creation of their new nation. He is quite effective in his goal, drawing parallels between the original government of America and that of the Iroquois, as well as the influences on the authors of the Declaration of Independence.