The U.S. Constitution and the Great Law of Peace: A Comparison of Two Founding Documents

by Gregory Schaaf (Comparison)

Magazine (paper), 2004

LCC

KF8228 I76 U54 2004

Description

Did American Indians influence the framers of the U.S. Constitution? After reading this text, U.S. Senators voted 100-0 to accept this fact. Dr. Schaaf testified in behalf of the Iroquois Confederacy at the Senate hearings. While the brief version, now out of print, has been used throughout the American school system, this is the first time the full text has been widely available. Featuring an introduction by Mohawk Chief Jake Swamp, co-founder of the international Tree of Peace Society. The format of the main text is laid out in two columns. Each section in the U.S. Constitution in the right column is compared side-by-side with the parallel section from the Iroquois constitution called the Great Law of Peace. While the parallels are unmistakable, the contrasts are even more interesting. For example, the first requirement to be an Iroquois chief is the must be honest. Nowhere in the Constitution is there such a requirement to be honest.… (more)

Publication

Santa Fe, NM : Center for Indigenous Arts & Cultures Press, c2004.

Tags

Six Nations, Constitutional law--United States, Iroquois Indians--Politics and government, Iroquois law

Notes

A classic comparison of America's two original founding documents. A contribution for teaching Constitutional rights. Appropriate reading for children of all ages as well as adults. Popular in public and private schools throughout the United States. Every American citizen should read and re-read the U.S. Constitution to understand our fundamental rights.

This book presents the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights in comparison with similar passages from the Iroquois Great Law of Peace, America's oldest founding document. Perhaps a thousand years ago, the Great Law established the Iroquois Confederacy as a participatory democracy with separation of powers and rights for women.

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