What was the Iroquois Confederacy and why was it important to the developement of the United States?

Question

What was the Iroquois Confederacy and why was it important to the developement of the United States?

Answer 1

The Iroquois Confederacy was a political and social system. It united the territories of the five nations in a symbolic longhouse that stretched across the present-day state of New York.

The original five nations of the Confederacy were the Mohawk, the Onondaga, the Seneca, the Oneida and the Cayuga. All decisions of the Confederacy had to be unanimous.

The structure of the Iroquois Confederacy inspired the American "Founding Fathers" in aspects of the development of the constitutional government of the United States (e.g., governmental structures; the rights of the individual; the public good).  

For more information, please see:  http://www.iroquoisdemocracy.pdx.edu/

Answer 2

The Iroquois government was the model for our own bicameral political system.  The two houses of government (House of Representatives and Senate) were developed based on the Iroquois political model.