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How Did The Iroquois Confederation Influence America

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The Iroquois Confederacy Influence on the United States of Americas’ Government Structure

Bryanna Grant

Caroline Rerucha
HIST223- History of the American Indian
26 September 2015

Before the United States came to be, there were confederations all over America between the Indian tribes that lived there. Many of these Indian confederations helped influence the United States into the country it is today. The Iroquois Confederacy was one confederation that aided the development of the United States government structures. However, the interpretations of the Iroquois influence on the United States government range from a strong claim that the United States political structures are all but copies of the Iroquois Confederate structures …show more content…

The Founding Fathers wanted to form a government that was different from the British and did not allow one person to have all control. Some of the Founding Fathers, like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams took inspiration from the Iroquois confederacy. Like the Iroquois Constitution, the Constitution of the United States provided guidelines for each branches of government, the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branch. Each branch having its own responsibilities while, working together to assure the rights of citizens. Through checks and balances, a branch may use its powers to check the powers of the other two branches in order to maintain a balance of power. These guidelines were similar to the Iroquois Confederacy …show more content…

It is easy to look blindly to the facts and think that the Iroquois did not influence the United States government structures. However, to say the United States copied the Iroquois Confederacy is also false. Even though there are many similarities between the Iroquois Confederacy and the United States government structures, there are also just as many differences. Most of the Founding Fathers experienced and learned from many different government systems. When trying to form a government for the United States, the Founding Fathers attempted to incorporate the strengths of the many government systems. Besides well-known European precedents — from Greece, Rome, and English common law, among others —Iroquois Confederacy ideas of democracy also assisted in the shaping of the United States government

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