Iroquois Confederacy Constitution influenced the US Constitution...

[cynatnite]

Next time a repuke swears up and down that the US was founded on Christian principles and all that...give them this tidbit of information. I was a little surprised when I heard it mentioned on a documentary today and did some reading up...

Although hotly debated, it is a historical fact that a number of founding fathers had direct contact with the Iroquois and prominent figures such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were closely involved with their stronger and larger native neighbor, the Iroquois. Whether this was purely politics for protection or admiration can never be fully determined, since they didn't say.

In 2004 the U.S. Government acknowledged the influence of the Iroquois Constitution on the U.S. Framers.<14> The Smithsonian also noted the similarities between the two documents, as well as the differences. One significant difference noted was the inclusion of women in the Iroquois Constitution, one group among many that the framers of the U.S. Constitution did not include.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_Confederacy#Example_to_the_United_States

Washington -- Benjamin Franklin, one of the original architects of the United States government, introduced as a model for the country's framework document the constitution of the Iroquois Nation, according to a Smithsonian Institution specialist of American Indian history.

The Iroquois, a North American Indian confederacy of several tribes, allied with some of the first European settlers of what later became the United States.

The Iroquois' detailed constitution -- called the Great Law of Peace -- guaranteed freedom of religion and expression and other rights later embraced in the U.S. Constitution, said Jaime Hill, co-editor of "American Indian," a new Smithsonian magazine about the past, present and future of indigenous peoples from throughout the Western Hemisphere.

snip:
However, the Iroquois constitution differed from the later U.S. document in one important way -- it specifically mentioned women, said Knapp. Many Indian nations were matriarchal with women nominating legislators, she added.

http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/Archive/2005/May/17-246412.html

[truedelphi]

1. And it was either the Iroquis or the Mohawks who

Chose the tribe's 12 best-est and favorite-est grandmothers to be the tribal leaders.

By a democratic vote.

A system I would gladly see us go back to.

[cynatnite]

2. Kicking for the day crowd n/t

[countryjake]

3. Not very many know, for sure. K&R

I've passed this truth on to quite a few, in my time.