Influence of the Iroquois Nation

Given the close proximity between colonists and Native American peoples, it is not hard to imagine that the lifestyle of Native Americans heavily influenced the choices colonists made when settling in the area. Many Native American nations influenced colonial development, but none were as influential as the Iroquois Nation, also called the Five Nations (later Six Nations) by the English.
The basic set up of Iroquois government is democratic in nature. Each nation has its own ruling council, which was concerned with internal affairs of the nation. The nations also represented delegates to serve in the Grand Council, which oversaw external affairs, including relations with other nations, war, and peace treaties (Grinde & Johansen, 1991; Lienhard, 1997). The Grand Council could not interfere with internal affairs of the nation. Representatives were appointed by the clan mothers of the ruling clans. Clan mothers had the power to appoint and impeach any representative found guilty of abuse of office or to no longer capable of carrying out duties as prescribed (Grinde & Johansen, 1991).
A representative form of government, the Iroquois Great Law gave a voice to the people of the Five Nations. There were fifty seats in the Grand Council, and while representation of the tribes was not equal, each tribe cast one vote, making the inequality of numbers a moot point (Grinde & Johansen, 1991). Colonists observing and dealing with the Iroquois government noted that Iroquois meetings were quite contrary to those of British Parliament. Where Parliament was noisy and chaotic, with members often talking over or interrupting one another, Iroquois meetings were orderly; only one member spoke at a time. Both William Bartram and Thomas Jefferson wrote that Native American governments were centered more around equality and individual liberty (Grinde & Johansen, 1991) than European governments, which were focused more on policy and enforcement.
The basic set up of Iroquois government is democratic in nature. Each nation has its own ruling council, which was concerned with internal affairs of the nation. The nations also represented delegates to serve in the Grand Council, which oversaw external affairs, including relations with other nations, war, and peace treaties (Grinde & Johansen, 1991; Lienhard, 1997). The Grand Council could not interfere with internal affairs of the nation. Representatives were appointed by the clan mothers of the ruling clans. Clan mothers had the power to appoint and impeach any representative found guilty of abuse of office or to no longer capable of carrying out duties as prescribed (Grinde & Johansen, 1991).
A representative form of government, the Iroquois Great Law gave a voice to the people of the Five Nations. There were fifty seats in the Grand Council, and while representation of the tribes was not equal, each tribe cast one vote, making the inequality of numbers a moot point (Grinde & Johansen, 1991). Colonists observing and dealing with the Iroquois government noted that Iroquois meetings were quite contrary to those of British Parliament. Where Parliament was noisy and chaotic, with members often talking over or interrupting one another, Iroquois meetings were orderly; only one member spoke at a time. Both William Bartram and Thomas Jefferson wrote that Native American governments were centered more around equality and individual liberty (Grinde & Johansen, 1991) than European governments, which were focused more on policy and enforcement.
Click here to learn more about the Iroquois Grand Council and League of Nations.
Many prominent thinkers of the Revolutionary period saw the benefit of using Iroquois government as a template but were not in favor of copying it in its entirety. As accounts of life in the New World made it back to England and other parts of Europe, thinkers including John Locke were impacted by the ideas inherent in Native American government, as the ideas promoted by philosophers were quite similar to the government practices of Native Americans (Grinde & Johansen, 1991). Grinde and Johansen (1991) summed it up thus: “European philosophers functioned essentially as their nations’ early industries -- importing raw materials from Native America (and other tribal societies around the world), packaging them, and then exporting them around the world as natural-rights philosophy” (p. 71).