Exemplar of liberty : native America and the evolution of democracy

Grinde, Donald A. 1946- (Author). Johansen, Bruce E. (Bruce Elliott), 1950- (Added Author).

Summary: We attempt to trace both ideas and the events that dramatized them: life, liberty, and happiness (Declaration of Independence); government by reason and consent rather than coercion (Albany Plan and Articles of Confederation); religious toleration (and ultimately religious acceptance) instead of a state church; checks and balances; federalism (United States Constitution); and relative equality of property, equal rights before the law, and the thorny problem of creating a government that can rule equitably across a broad geographic expanse (Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution). Native America had a substantial role in shaping these ideas, as well as the events that turned the colonies into a nation of states.

Record details

ISBN: 0935626352
ISBN: 9780935626353
Physical Description: print
xxv, 320 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : American Indian Studies Center, University of California, Los Angeles, ©1991.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-310) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Vox Americana -- Perceptions of America's native democracies -- Natural man in an unnatural land -- Ennobling "savages" -- Errand in the wilderness -- The white roots reach out -- Mohawks, axes, and taxes -- A new chapter -- An American synthesis -- Kindling a new grand council fire -- The persistence of an idea.