It would be hard to claim that the founders scrutinized
the Iroquois Constitution with the same avidity they studied the
works of, say, Hume or Locke. [For a description of Madison's
studies at Princeton, see the Princeton
site. For a discussion of Madison's extensive preparation for
the Constitutional Convention, see Bruce G. Kauffmann, "James
Madison — 'Godfather' of the Constitution?"
The Early American Review, Summer 1997.] The founders were white
males of European descent and their concept of erudition was decidedly
Eurocentric. However, the founders were not simply scholars; they
were, as Charles Beard asserted, rich "in political experience,
and in practical knowledge." Many had met, fought, negotiated,
and traded with the Six Nations and other Native Americans for
much of their lives.
Although Washington dispatched Sullivan to burn
their villages in 1779, he had spoken very respectfully to the
leaders of the Six Nations twenty-five years earlier. He calls
them "Brothers," and asks their "advice and assistance"
:
"Brothers, I have called you together
in Council, by Order of your Brother the Governor of Virginia,
to acquaint you that I am sent…to visit, and deliver a
Letter to the French Commandant, of very great Importance to
your Brothers the English; and I dare say, to you their Friends
and Allies.
I was destined, brothers, by your brother,
the governor, to call upon you, the sachems of the nations,
to inform you of it, and to ask your advice and assistance to
proceed the nearest and best road to the French…"
[From Major George Washington's Journal
to the River Ohio, etc.]
Washington had ventured west to meet the Native
Americans. However, even the less intrepid colonial leaders had
meet and negotiated with Indian leaders who traveled to the colonial
capitals or even to England. Jefferson did not attend the Constitutional
Convention, but his letter to Adams attests to the contact between
colonial and Native American leaders.
"…in the early part of my life,
I was very familiar [with Indians], and acquired impressions
of attachment and commiseration for them which have never been
obliterated. Before the Revolution, they were in the habit of
coming often and in great numbers to the seat of government
[Williamsburg], where I as very much with them. I knew much
the great Ontassete, the warrior and orator of the Cherokees;
he was always the guest of my father, on his journeys to and
from Williamsburg. I was in his camp when he made his great
farewell oration to his people the evening before his departure
to England…His sounding voice, distinct articulation,
animated action, and the solemn silence of his people…filled
me with awe and veneration, although I did not understand a
word he said." [Wilstach,
Letter from Jefferson to Adams, June 11, 1812]
It seems unlikely that the founders could be
totally blind to the lessons to be learned from the successes
and failures of the Six Nations. Could they have been blind to
the parallels between the fate of six small Indian Nations faced
with a larger foe and the future of thirteen small states confronting
major European powers?
Much earlier, Benjamin Franklin, who did attend
the Constitutional Convention, saw the parallel:
"It would be a strange thing if Six Nations
of ignorant savages should be capable of forming such a scheme
for such an union, and be able to execute it such a manner as
that it has subsisted ages appears indissoluble; and yet that
a like union should be impracticable for ten or a dozen English
colonies, to whom it is more necessary and must be more advantageous,
and who cannot be supposed to want an equal understanding of
their interests." [Quoted in Van
Doren, page 209.]
The declining fortunes of the Six Nations must
have reinforced the founders' fears of the consequences of disunity
and their desires to move away from a confederacy.
