|
How was the Constitution created? |
Often when discussing or thinking about the Constitution it is easy to make a connection with people such as George Washington , Thomas Jefferson, or Benjamin Franklin who were considered America's Founding Fathers. But what if I told you there were more founding fathers than just white, colonist men? The term Founding Fathers is somewhat problematic to begin with because these men did not "find" anything, especially in regards to creating the government still used in the States today. For example, the framework of the constitution was taken in large part from the unwritten Iroquois constitution but the 'founding fathers' took it and made it their own. This shows there was already a sort of government in place before the colonists arrived and that the Natives were very influential in the way the government is set up today.
Another important thing to notice is that although the Native tribe of the Iroquois was the primary influence of the Constitution, they are not given credit and the credit was given to the delegates at the constitutional convention. When looking at the way the states wanted to be represented in the Constitution, remember that all of this land was once inhabited by Natives. These states did not allow for the representation of Natives in their government. |