Benjamin Franklin

Quaker Antislavery Petitions to First Congress Trigger Fierce Debate and Tabling

| Importance: 8/10

Two groups of Quakers enter the House of Representatives in New York and submit petitions calling on the federal government to ban the African slave trade and take steps toward abolishing slavery. The petitions come from three organizations: the Philadelphia and New York Yearly Meetings of the …

Society of Friends (Quakers) Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery Benjamin Franklin James Madison Southern congressmen +1 more slavery abolition-movement congressional-debate petition-rights institutional-corruption +1 more
Read more →

Albany Congress Exposes Franklin to Haudenosaunee Democratic Model

| Importance: 8/10

The Albany Congress marks a pivotal moment when Benjamin Franklin and colonial delegates directly engaged with Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy leaders, including Mohawk leader Hendrick, to discuss an English-Haudenosaunee alliance against the French and a plan of union for the colonies. By …

Benjamin Franklin Haudenosaunee Confederacy Hendrick (Mohawk leader) Conrad Weiser Albany Congress delegates democratic-innovations indigenous-politics constitutional-foundations consensus-democracy colonial-era
Read more →

Haudenosaunee Confederacy: Democratic Practices Influencing Constitutional Design

| Importance: 9/10

The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy demonstrated sophisticated democratic practices that significantly influenced American constitutional design, including consensus-based decision-making, gender-balanced leadership, and a complex system of checks and balances. Benjamin Franklin extensively …

Haudenosaunee Confederacy Benjamin Franklin Indigenous Leadership Clan Mothers Founding Fathers indigenous-democracy constitutional-design consensus-governance pre-colonial-democracy democratic-innovation
Read more →

Haudenosaunee Confederacy: Pre-Constitutional Democratic Model

| Importance: 9/10

The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy established a sophisticated democratic system centuries before the United States Constitution, featuring consensus-based governance, sophisticated separation of powers, personal rights protections, and significant roles for women in political leadership. …

Haudenosaunee Confederacy Indigenous Leadership Benjamin Franklin John Adams Thomas Jefferson +2 more indigenous-democracy consensus-governance pre-colonial-democracy constitutional-origins political-innovation +1 more
Read more →