Iroquois Confederacy and Ancient Greece ?

Question

My little sister is doing a summer school course , and asked for my help, but I have NO idea how to help her on this one...I didn't learn anything like it in school. the questions are :

A. How were decision made in these societies?
B. What were the differences in the characteristics of their democracies?
C. What were the similarities?

lol 10 points for anyone who can help ! thanks ahead .

Answer 1

Both societies changed over time, but there was enough consistency that I can give you general outlines.

Both societies had somewhat democratic decison-making processes (Democracy is a Greek word). Adult males met together and made decisions for the most part by consensus. There were influential leaders in both societies whose words carried a lot of weight, but they rarely had the power to impose their will. In both societies women were respected, but did not usually take part in political decision-making. Both societies had slaves, although their ideas about the subject were quite different. The majority of people in Greece were slaves, or "helots," and had little part in civic life. In Iroquois society captives from other tribes were treated as slaves in a sense, but were usually not abused and would often be eventually accpeted as full members of the tribe, which was very rare for helots. Both societies frequently made alliances with nearby tribes or towns, and almost as frequently went to war. Both prized the freedom of the individual, and understood the need to balance this against the good of society.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

A great question! Both the Greek and the Iroquois made impressive contributions into the founding of America's governmental formation. The Iroquois had 50 seats of voting power, with the 50th held inviolate because it was reserved only for the mythical and supposed real leader, Hiawatha.

The other seats were owned by the clans and filled by male descendants, determined through the mothers of the original chiefs summoned by Hiawatha. Despite this law of inheritance, the men ruled at the discretion of the tribal matrons. These women nominated them, briefed them before each session, monitored their legislative record, and when necessary, removed them from office.

For all these feminine checks and balances, the actual business of government was a masculine affair.

Unlike the Greeks, the Iroquois were matriarchal with the women having more than an average say-so on what went on. But when war was necessary, the men went about their tasks as expected.

Answer 3

those adult males are probably perfect (John Locke had very lots of effect too, as did Montesquieu and different French philosophes). On a sensible point the frontier generated a fiercely autonomous spirit that became in lots of situations at odds with the regulation. in spite of the very incontrovertible fact that maximum colonists feared and despised the community human beings, a number of them renowned them - somewhat the French. The mountain adult males and trappers renowned them too.