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An article from 2005 by Charles C. Mann argues that there was an indirect influence by American Indians (particularly the Iroquois) on the political ideals or structure of the early American colonists, and also the Founding Fathers:
It is likely that the first British villages in North America, thousands of miles from the House of Lords, would have lost some of the brutally graded social hierarchy that characterized European life. But it is also clear that they were infused by the democratic, informal brashness of American Indian culture. That spirit alarmed and discomfited many Europeans, aristocrat and peasant alike. Others found it a deeply attractive vision of human possibility.
This view is even being taught in some schools where it has gotten backing from the state (such as New York). My question: to what extent is this view valid?
This is highly possible. The Iroquois were one of the most highly sophisticated civilizations in North America.
It was proposed in the text I taught from and while it is hard to prove it is harder to disprove. The founders had to be aware of their social order and how well it worked; also recognizing how colosely it followed enlightenment thought. Part of the Nobile Savage myth as well?
Didn't many of the original colonists come to America to escape social stratification at home as well as religious persecution? The theory sounds good but as you say is essentially unprovable.
Wally:What is this disparaging remark about the Noble Savage? Have you forgotten the lessons drawn fromthe Huxley book "Brave New World?"
Spelling error. But the image of this freeman of the wild killed many settlers that thought they were going to be dealing with a fellow enlightenment thinker. I am a realist, the native population were what they were... not what we expected, wanted, or predicted. Until we are able to look at a population objectively and judge them on their terms (not our cultural baggage) we won't understand them and likely will be in a fight.A former professor of mine had much success dealing with the Aleuts because she lived with them... not among, in a motorhome at the edge of the village but with the family in its home. This sort of brings it all into focus on both ends of the microscope. Trust is built and cultural barriers removed (slowly but removed none-the-less)... 😉
Have you forgotten the lessons drawn fromthe Huxley book "Brave New World?"
Didn't WWII kinda prove that Huxley's theory was nothing but ideological fantasy?
Didn't WWII kinda prove that Huxley's theory was nothing but ideological fantasy?
I realize this is going off topic, but I think that Huxley's commentary is proving all-too true in our modern world.
