American Indians: Constitution Influencers Or Silent Bystanders?

The United States Constitution, signed in 1787, is one of the oldest continuous democracies in the world. While schools often teach that the intellectual lineage of the Constitution stems from ancient Athens and the European Enlightenment, several sources indicate that the document was influenced by Native American governments. Native American nations, such as the Iroquois Confederacy, Shawnee, and Cherokee, had democratic forms of government that separated military and civil leadership and guarded certain personal freedoms. Many of the Founding Fathers who signed the Constitution had deep familiarity with Native nations, having negotiated treaties or engaged in diplomatic relations with them. Benjamin Franklin, for example, was closely involved in negotiating and printing treaties with the Iroquois Confederacy and studied their systems of governance. In 1988, the US Congress passed a resolution formally acknowledging the influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the US Constitution.

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Influence of the Iroquois Confederacy

The Iroquois Confederacy was a powerful influence on the minds of the Founding Fathers who signed the Constitution. The Iroquois Confederacy was a multi-state government that ensured individual governance and freedoms. The structure of the Confederacy represented five tribes: Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, and Seneca, with the Tuscarora nation joining in 1722. Each tribe handled its own affairs but came together to solve issues of common importance, operating under the Great Law of Peace, a doctrine of 117 codicils.

The Iroquois Confederacy was a real-life example of some of the political concepts the framers were interested in adopting in the U.S. Constitution. The Founders were impressed by how the Iroquois legislated their affairs and shortly thereafter, they drafted the U.S. Constitution echoing the Great Law of Peace. The Iroquois Confederacy was a government the Founding Fathers had encountered, and it was of particular interest as it was federal in nature.

Benjamin Franklin, who was closely involved in negotiating and printing treaties with Native nations, studied the Iroquois Confederacy's system of governance. Thomas Jefferson also studied Native systems of government, expressing admiration for them. He wrote that “the only condition on earth to be compared with ours is that of the Indians, where they still have less law than we. The Europeans are governments of kites over pidgeons [sic].”

In 1988, Congress passed a resolution formally acknowledging the influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the U.S. Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson's views on Native American systems

Jefferson's understanding of Native American systems was influenced by his reading of authors such as Arthur Gordon, William Robertson, and Adam Ferguson. He also drew comparisons between Native Americans and the Ancient Saxons who inhabited England before the Norman Conquest. In his writings, Jefferson discussed Native American tribes with a level of detail and objectivity that was uncommon for his era.

However, Jefferson believed that Native American cultures needed to be "civilized" and assimilated into European-American society. He promoted Indian removal, recommending that tribes like the Cherokee and Shawnee be forced out of their ancestral homelands and relocated west of the Mississippi River. Jefferson argued that this was necessary for the survival of Native Americans and that it would also benefit white interests. He hoped to encourage Native Americans to adopt European agricultural practices, a sedentary lifestyle, and European concepts of property and debt.

Jefferson's policies and views set the tone for relations with Native Americans for over a century. He sought to bind Indigenous Nations to the United States through treaties, ensuring their security while also serving the interests of white settlers. Despite his stated goals of peace and respect, Jefferson's policies ultimately led to the destruction of Native cultures and the establishment of the reservation system.

The US Constitution and citizenship for Native Americans

The US Constitution, signed in 1787, has been influenced by various sources, including ancient Athens, the European Enlightenment, and European philosophers such as John Locke and Montesquieu. However, Native American governments and political entities also played a role in shaping the Constitution, with the Founding Fathers drawing on both the positive and negative aspects of tribal governance.

Native American tribes, such as the Iroquois Confederacy, the Cherokee, and the Shawnee, had a variety of government models, ranging from complex to simple and autocratic to democratic. These tribes generally separated military and civil leadership, protected certain personal freedoms, and included democratic policies for referendums, vetoes, and recalls. They also typically gave women a significant role in government, which, unfortunately, did not make its way into the US Constitution.

One notable example of Native American influence on the Constitution is the concept of federalism. The Iroquois Confederacy, for instance, demonstrated unification through mutual defense and the conduct of foreign affairs, with each tribe maintaining autonomy over issues like marriage and divorce. This model of a stacked government influenced the constitutional framers' thinking, who sought to borrow aspects of Iroquois governance that emphasized the sovereignty of the people.

Despite this influence, Native Americans themselves were not considered part of the American body politic when the Constitution was written. They were not taxed, not counted in the voting population, and generally treated as outside the purview of federal and state legislation. Their affairs were governed by tribal laws, treaties, and special federal Indian legislation. It wasn't until the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 that interpretations of the amendment began to include Native Americans as citizens, and even then, many were still excluded from citizenship and faced barriers to voting rights. It wasn't until 1924 that all native-born Indians who had not already been made citizens were finally naturalized.

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The Founding Fathers' familiarity with Native American nations

The Founding Fathers of the United States Constitution were familiar with the Native American nations and their systems of governance. They had negotiated treaties, engaged in diplomatic relations, and studied their forms of government.

Benjamin Franklin, for instance, was closely involved in negotiating and printing treaties with Native American nations, including the Iroquois Confederacy, and studied their systems of governance. Franklin was not alone in his admiration for Native American systems of government. Thomas Jefferson also studied and expressed admiration for them, noting in a letter written after the completion of the first draft of the Constitution that "the only condition on earth to be compared with ours is that of the Indians, where they still have less law than we. The Europeans are governments of kites over pidgeons [sic]."

The Founders were most familiar with the governments of eastern North America, which included confederacies of tribal nations such as the powerful Iroquois Confederacy in upstate New York. The Iroquois, Shawnee, Cherokee, and other political formations generally separated military and civil leadership, guarded certain personal freedoms, including freedom of religion, and included somewhat democratic policies for referendums, vetoes, and recalls. These Native American nations also gave women a significant role in government, something that would not be achieved in the US for over a century.

However, the influence of Native American systems on the Constitution was not widely acknowledged at the time. The fledgling US nation sought to establish itself as an equal among European powers, and it is likely that European nations would have viewed a government modelled after Native American systems with skepticism. It was not until 1987 that the US Senate formally recognized the influence of Native American law on the Constitution.

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy and its impact on the Constitution

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, is recognised as having influenced the creation of the US Constitution. The confederacy was formed in 1142 by the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Onondaga nations, with the Tuscarora nation joining later.

The US Senate acknowledged the impact of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in a resolution in 1987, noting that the framers of the Constitution, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, admired the "concepts, principles and governmental practices" of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. The resolution further stated that the union of the original Thirteen Colonies into one republic was modelled after the Iroquois Confederacy, as were several democratic principles incorporated into the Constitution.

Benjamin Franklin, a Constitutional convention member, was closely involved in negotiating and printing treaties with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and studied their systems of governance. He reviewed Cadwallader Colden's "The History of the Five Indian Nations Depending on the Province of New York in America," and wrote "Short Hints Towards a Scheme for Uniting the Northern Colonies." Franklin also corresponded with his printing partner, James Parker, about the Six Nations. During the 1730s and 1740s, Franklin became immersed in the treaty councils brought to him by Conrad Weiser, who had been adopted into the Mohawk nation.

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy's governing principle, the Great Law of Peace, stressed the importance of unity and peace, which are also reflected in the US Constitution. The seal of the United States, featuring an eagle clutching thirteen arrows, is thought to be influenced by the Haudenosaunee symbol of five arrows bound together, representing the five nations. The structure of the US Congress, with its two houses, also bears resemblance to the Haudenosaunee Grand Council, which consisted of Chiefs from each nation, divided into sections of Elder and Younger Brothers.

Thomas Jefferson, another key figure in drafting the Constitution, also expressed admiration for Native American systems of government. In a letter written after the completion of the Constitution's first draft, Jefferson noted that Native Americans had "less law" but were comparable to the new nation, implying a certain degree of influence from their form of governance.

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