The Haudenosaunee Constitution: The Creation Of The United States Constitution

It has long been taught that the first constitution and idea of a representative government first came into existence with the creation of the United States’ constitution. However, six hundred years prior to that creation, a group of native tribes came together and forged the America’s true first constitution. Through this creation, a powerful nation, known as the Haudenosaunee, or known as to Europeans the Iroquois Nation, became an important part in the shaping of the Americas. The creation of this constitution would serve as a model for the need and creation of the United States’ own constitution. This will be shown by examining the why it was created, the principles held within it and its influence on the creation of United States Constitution. …show more content…
As noted the begging contains the history of the people. Once this was established the remaining articles contain the creation and running of a government. To begin with it was decided that the type of government that would be formed would be a representative one. Meaning, members from each clan would send one representative to speak on behalf of the clan. The council was to be made up of fifty clan chiefs, to be chosen by matriarchs of each clan. This was to ensure that all, men and women would be represented through the council, for while the men made the decisions, the women decided who got to make those decisions. This type of government was also intended to instill in the minds of the chiefs that they servants of the people. From here the laws and regulations guiding the chiefs were set forth. This included how and when they should meet, how votes would be recorded, the need for a unanimous vote to move forward with a decision, freedom of speech, how war was to be conducted, impeachment of a chief through due to immoral or errant behavior, dealings with foreign people, and even adoption and immigration. In addition, guidelines were put into place to add and detract from the constitution as the need arose. Each of these ideas were to serve as a way to keep peace and to strengthen the five tribes and what came out of it was the creation of the most power nation in America at that point in time. A nation that would …show more content…
It has long been known that the founders sought direction and were influenced by Locke, Hobbes, Montesquieu and other European scholars, but what has not fully been noted is the influence of the Haudenosaunee on the founders. There has been much debate as to how much or if any influence could have come from the Haudenosaunee and while many scholars discount the influence the Haudenosaunee may have had it is seen and has been shown that parallels exist to the point that it must be taken into consideration. As noted multiple times each were faced with similar issues and while the path taken by the colonist was not perfectly in line with what the Haudenosaunee did, strong similarities do