-
(#9) Iroquois Leaders Even Attended The Continental Congress And Gave the Founding Fathers Advice
In the summer of 1775, after war broke out at Lexington and Concord, the Founding Fathers met in the Continental Congress to form a new government. A group of Iroquois sachems and warriors reminded the Founding Fathers of the words of Canassatego, a powerful Iroquois diplomat who spoke at the signing of the Treaty of Lancaster in 1744.
Canassatengo described the founding of the Iroquois League as: “Our Wise Forefathers established Union and Amity between the Five Nations. We are a powerful Confederacy, and if you observe the same methods . . . you will acquire fresh strength and power.”
The Americans responded that their forefathers had followed the advice. “The Six Nations are a wise people, let us hearken to their Council and teach our children to follow it."
-
(#4) But Some, Like Benjamin Franklin, Complimented Native Americans
In the 1780s, Benjamin Franklin wrote “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America.” In spite of calling them “savages,” he complimented the Native Americans, making note of “Indian rules of politeness” and how such manners played into effective diplomacy. These descriptions featured not a group of bloodthirsty savages, but respectable groups whose customs and traditions could serve the burgeoning American government.
Franklin made this exact point when he wryly noted, “Savages we call them, because their manners differ from ours, which we think the perfection of civility; they think the same of theirs.”
-
(#11) In 1988, A Senate Resolution Finally Acknowledged The Constitution’s Debt To Native Americans
On the two hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, the Senate finally acknowledged the Founding Fathers adapting ideas from Native Americans.
The Senate Resolution stated “the original framers of the Constitution . . . are known to have greatly admired the concepts of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.” It went on to conclusively proclaim “the confederation of the original Thirteen Colonies into one republic was influenced by the political system developed by the Iroquois Confederacy as were many of the democratic principles which were incorporated into the Constitution itself."
Better 200 years late than never, right?
-
(#5) Benjamin Franklin Used Comparisons With Native Americans To Encourage Colonists
Franklin’s strategy drew on a long tradition of using so-called “savages” to encourage behavior in his own society.
Roman Senator and historian Tacitus famously used the “barbarian” Germans to criticize the loose morals of Roman women: “No one in Germany laughs at vice, nor do they call it the fashion to corrupt and to be corrupted.” By complimenting "barbarians," Tacitus hoped to shame wanton Romans into reforming their ways.
Similarly, when Franklin complimented the “savage” Iroquois, he wanted to encourage the Colonists to both imitate and surpass the Native Americans.
-
(#12) The Founding Fathers Proclaimed That All Men Are Created Equal, But The Native Americans Had More Equality
The words of the Declaration of Independence proclaim that “all men are created equal,” even though America's development stems from inequality written into the Constitution. When Jefferson penned those words, he owned slaves––considered three-fifths of a person by the Constitution––and the Constitution excluded non-whites, women, and even men who didn’t own property from fundamental rights.
Perhaps the Founding Fathers should have borrowed even more from the Native Americans. James Adair, an Irish observer of the Chickasaw, wrote in 1775 that, “They are all equal ⎯ the only precedence any gain is by superior virtue, oratory, or prowess; and they esteem themselves bound to live and die in defense of their country."
Iroquois women too played a powerful role in their society, selecting the sachems and holding veto power over the men’s decisions. If only the Founding Fathers paid even closer attention to the Native Americans.
-
(#1) The Founding Fathers Stole Political Systems From Native Americans
The Founding Fathers “borrowed” a number of ideas from Native Americans, especially from the Iroquois Confederacy. Benjamin Franklin in particular pointed to the Iroquois as an example of a sound federal governing system.
Franklin highly respected the Iroquois Confederacy, a grouping of six different tribes united under a banner of diplomacy, and sought to model the colonies' own unity after this system. When Franklin spoke at the Albany Congress, a meeting between Colonists and the Iroquois, he introduced the Albany Plan of Union, where a president presided over a group of colonial delegates, similar to the Iroquois Confederacy.
But even while the Founding Fathers took ideas from Native Americans, they still called them savages.
New Random Displays Display All By Ranking
About This Tool
The Mayflower, which landed on the east coast of the United States in 1620, was of great significance in modern American history, but for the Indians who have lived on this continent for generations, it was the beginning of their tragic fate. The independence of the United States was full of incidents of the expulsion and massacre of Indians. Today, these native Americans are still facing inequality and abuse.
For nearly a hundred years after the founding of the United States, it implemented genocide policies and the westward movement to expel and kill Indians, and plunder land and resources. By the end of the 19th century, there were fewer than 250,000 Native Americans left. Few people know that the "all American" ideas were taken from the native Americans' miserable life, the random tool introduced more things about the dark history.
Our data comes from Ranker, If you want to participate in the ranking of items displayed on this page, please click here.