Exemplars of Taking Liberties: The Iroquois Influence Thesis and the Problem of Evidence

Abstract

OR nearly two decades, Donald A. Grinde, Jr., and Bruce E. Johansen F have been most outspoken proponents of controversial theory that Iroquois Confederacy and Great Law of Peace had an important influence on constitutional design of United States government. In three books-Grinde's The Iroquois and Founding of American Nation, Johansen's Forgotten Founders, and their co-authored Exemplar of Liberty: Native America and Evolution of Democracy-as well as in numerous articles and essays-the two have made case for what has come to be called Iroquois influence thesis.' Supporters applaud Grinde and Johansen for doing pioneering work in Indian history2 while critics decry influence thesis as deceptive and shoddy scholarship. In Exemplar of Liberty, most comprehensive presentation of influence thesis arguments and evidence to date, Grinde and Johansen contend that the character of American democracy evolved importantly (although, of course, not solely) from examples provided by American Indian confederacies that bordered British colonies. They hold that League of Iroquois, with its representative form of democracy, helped shape federal Constitution and as a catalyst for American unity. They find overwhelming evidence that, during framing and ratification process of United States Constitution, Iroquois lectured to colonial and revolutionary leaders on virtues of unity and served as an example of democracy for Europeans and colonial Americans. They also assert that the Iroquois had a profound impact on American notions about unity, territorial expansion, origins of sovereignty in people, and universal suffrage. They