Lesson One: Overview Origins of Liberalism

5. Conclusion

Centuries ago, when most European peoples had few freedoms and individual rights, the people of the nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy had the freedom to decide who would lead them and how they would live together.  The Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace and its three guiding principles - peace, power, and righteousness - are based on collective values but also contain some individualist and liberal values, such as elected leaders, leadership on the basis of merit, and living by the rules described in a shared constitution.