@@StefanMilo Dou know what is impossible to find in YT? *Prehistory of Slavs:* - common Balto-Slavic period of Lusatian culture; did they settle their land starting from Morava River area after they arrived from Lech River Valley 1200BC, as Y-DNA suggests? - Proto-WesternSlavic area of Przeworsk culture, and Proto-SouthEasternSlavic area of Zarubnitsy culture; did they adopt name Rus from Rossolani (Roxolans) Iranians?
indeed DoE is a great book as it destroys the western myth that American or other indigenous nations were somehow thousands of years behind " enlightened europe" in terms of social and technological progress but I wanna know what Milo thinks!
Really liked this video! I think fo us Mexicans it's a touchy subject, how the modern state of Tlaxcala set certain "stones" in the way for the Spanish conquest and all... Growing up in cdmx we know there are two sister republics; Yucatán and Tlaxcala. Yucatán because they had a very strong secession movement (and even were their own country for a ridiculous short time) and Tlaxcala because of what you exposed. They're the reminder of the broad palette of nations that are now under the Mexican state, but sometimes this also becomes negative. There's another popular saying, that Tlaxcala doesn't even exist. Back when the PRI created the Mestizo narrative of a homogeneous mixture of european and indigenous culture as the prevailing population in México, the glorious past of the mesoamerican civilizations was uniformed towards the Mexica and Tenochtitlan, thus making Tlaxcallan traitors and parias in the eyes of history, even though officially they've also been recognized as the cradle of mestizaje and even the model for Patria, the humanized icon of the motherland México comes famously from Tlaxco, Tlaxcala. The state has been really underdeveloped, it's lightly populated, lacks in infrastructure at the federal and private level (they celebrated a couple of years ago their first escalator in the whole state and the grand opening of their own Starbucks) and lack in opportunity and justice (the biggest network of child sex trafficking has taken over certain region) plagues their daily life, but we need to reappropriate and revalue the historical and cultural achievements of our natives from this modern state, sister republic of Tlaxcala. Thank you for this vid.
Damn I did not know the legacy of the conquest has created such hardship for people of Tlaxcala. I didn’t touch on the conquest so much here because I didn’t want to distract from their political system. I just mentioned it at the start because Cortes’ letters are a glimpse into this society. That’s a real shame. Still I think we’re living in a time where many of the old ideas of history are changing for the better.
Leaders tend to create amazing things, but it never prevents them from doing evil. Powerful people don't typically feel obliged to follow a script other than the one they write for themselves.
@@StefanMilo it is not as much as the legacy of Conquest but of the Modern Mexican State. Tlaxcaltecas and Otomi where an active part of the Spanish Army in North América, they conquered Other tribes. The mexican nationalistic ideas portrays them as traitors.
I always imagined the first republics on well protected rocky shores (or close to them) not in the middle of the land completely surrounded by a strong warrior empire. I wonder what conditions pushed the tlaxcalans to develop their fascinating political system
Perhaps it was as an adaptation to the empire above it. I wouldn't be surprised if they started out as a collection of culturally similar but separate tribes that when faced with a large external pressure were forced to compromise with each other for mutual defense. Overtime this could cause them to get more interconnected until they fully integrate each other into their larger political framework. I wouldn't be surprised if they were bolstered by runaway slaves from the Aztec who also wouldn't want to have a new unaccountable master either.
I noticed that one of the three things that could get you promoted was being successful in commerce. The Italian republican cities were merchant cities, and Weber hypothesized that commerce was key to the development of democracy. It left me wondering what role this centrally-located state played in regional commerce.
Great video! Something I think that's important to note though is that most if not all Nahua altepeme/city-states existed along a spectrum of being monarchial, to aristocratic, to oligarchical/democratic: Tlaxcala merely existed on the extreme latter end of that spectrum. Even Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, had a council of 4 political officials which allegedly elected kings (just in practice always from the same royal family), and a council of nobles which also had at least nominal power (though the specifics of these varies between sources). Likewise, recorded customary speeches and certain discussions between officials recorded in the Florentine Codex or Duran's history have kings of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco, it's sister city, consulting the common people and framing descions as things that they public needed to approve or deny. Now, surely some, likely most, of this is merely custom and nominal, and as you've explained the Tlaxcalteca take these to further extremes, but it still shows that more communal political systems was a shared cultural foundation across Nahua states. On the other hand, I'm also under the impression that Tlaxcala, in turn, DID technically have Tlatoani/kings (you mention Tlatoque in the video, but I am specifically thinking of Tlatloque for each of the 4 subcities, like Tiztlan, tho I also know some researchers have refuted Tlaxcala being a compound city at all and such accounts being erronous) but their role in the political system was minimized compared to Tlaxcala's version of the councils Tenochtitlan had, which as you note in Tlaxcala were open to commoners. I don't have a particular source for this off the top of my head (which is how I am typing this all up, apologies for that!), but I am pretty sure that I've read that, much like how colonial period sources exaggerated the differences between Tenochtitlan and Texcoco, the former as warlike (sort of a Sparta) and the latter as intellectual (sort of like Athens), such sources also exagerrated the differences between Tenochtitlan and Tlaxcala (not that such differences don't exist or aren't significant) I also think it would have been worth mentioning how Teotihuacan fits into this. You bring up the city and it's unusual layout, but any disscusion of represenative rule in Mesoamerica should talk about it's potential political system. For those who aren't aware, during the Mesoamerican Classic period, Teotihuacan was a major metropolis in Central Mexico (actually in a subvalley inside of the larger Valley of Mexico the Aztec political core would be located in a millennia later), It is unusual, for a number of reasons: One, it's gigantic. Housed 100,000+ denizens, and covered a total area (as of surveys from 50 years ago, so there may be more!) of 37 square kilometers. Of course, larger Maya cities had sprawls covering dozens or even hundreds of square kilometers, but in Teotihuacan, around 20 of those 37 square kilometers was the urban core itself. On that note, all the structures in that core were on a planned grid, organized not around a plaza, but a central road. As for what structures could fill this massive urban grid, it was almost all palaces: Almost every denizen in Teotihuacan lived in fancy palace/villa compounds with dozens of rooms, courtyards, painted frescos, some with toilets and running water, etc. We also know the city was multi-ethnic, with certain neighborhoods showing writing, burial patterns, art, etc from Zapotec, Maya, Gulf Coast, and West Mexican cultures. Finally (there's also no ball courts aside from a small one early in the city's history that was buried, but, while unusual, doesn't tie into my point here) there's been no royal tombs or signs clear signs of authoritarian leadership found so far inside the city. So quite a few researchers believe it had a represenative or democratic government as well; though there's also some evidence that it invaded and installed rulers on some Maya cities like Tikal and the inscriptions that suggest that do mention Fire-Is-Born and Spearthrower-Owl, who are often talked about as Teotihuacano generals or kings, but could of course be elected officials too, perhaps (and not everybody agrees they were actually Teotihuacano) If you (though you may already know most of it!) or anybody else is curious for more info, there's a video on the Ancient Americas channel I helped them with on Teotihuacan, there's also a pinned comment from me there with extra resources that didn't make it into the video... on THAT note, if you ever cover Mesoamerica again, feel free to reach out and I'd be glad to help if my schedule permits it, be it with research, resources, script proofreading, lending photos I have taken, etc. Rafael (who always does amazing art but really knocked it out of the park here!) or Aztlanhistorian can send you my info!
The existance of the four lordships is somewhat contentious and I'm inclined to agree that they likely were a colonial invention based on prior administrative districts.
A spectrum of common elements also applies to the ancient Greek city-states, AIUI. Popular assembly, council or aristocrats, king; but differing in the balance. Athens ended up with a very powerful Assembly, and unique(?) elements like the juries, but there are still traces of the others. Homer's Odyssey portrays Telemachus, the young prince, calling and speaking to an assembly of citizens, asking for aid against the suitors.
Ya Graeber in his work talks about Teotihican especially during that era when many temples were evidently abandoned and a more egalitarian system began afterwards
I’m from Tlaxcala but have been raised in California most of my life. I knew a little bit about Tlaxcala history, and today I learned much more. Thank you for that! Amazing history!!
When I woke up this morning, basically all I knew about Tlaxcala was that they were Cortez' most reliable allies against the Aztecs. To my eternal shame, I essentially thought of an entire culture as patsies for imperialism. They're now one of the aspects of Mesoamerican history I'm most interested to learn more about. Thank you for this video.
Out of the 4 or 500 Spanish who came in 1521 revolt, only like 8 survived. Hardly a Spanish victory, especially when the revolting natives totaled 20000-4 E 30000plus
Tlaxcala made up like 98% of the troops. They had already sacked Tenochtilan 100 years before the Iberians arrived, during the Aztcapuzalco war. they also helped establish the tripple alliance with Nezacoyotl. Basically, Tlaxcala is Russia and Aztec tripple alliance is Germany. During the Napeolonic wars, France captured Berlin and then Russia bailed out the Prussians-Germans and allied with them to take out the French. Now that Germany had peace it was allowed to grow and unify a became a powerhouse, this eventually sets up a war with Germany and its old ally Russia in WW2. So by the time the Americans arrived in WW2 the Russians already had the war won. .. By the time the Iberians arrived, the Tlaxcalans had already won the war with Cholula defecting and joining Tlaxcala. People also sleep on Malinche, she was actually leading the resitance of the veracruz mayans. She was basically backing Tlaxcala to become a buffer state against the growing Aztec power. Even if the Spanish never arrived and they had defeated the Tlaxcalans, the Aztec would have faced a far larger threat in Guadalajara in the TARASCAN empire. Surely indeed, when colonization happened, Guadalajara became more powerful than Mexico City in the 1600s. Mexico City was cultuaral and religious powerhouse but Guadalajara was an economic and military power. Mexico City does not become a super city again until the early 1900s under Lazaro Cardenas.
When I woke up this morning, basically all I knew about Tlaxcala was that my knowledge about me even having knowledge about the mere existence of Tlaxcala doesn't exist.
There was another republic too in the north east, the iroquois confederation. A lot of the archaeology research on it was done by French Canadians and is only available in french, but there’s quite a lot of material in English too. It’s an all around fascinating video, thank you Stefan for the quality of the content you produce. What a man.
@@professor_kaosdrama3993 no it doesn’t and no they didn’t come. It’s a myth without empirical evidence to back it up even though Michigan archeology is pretty well developed. Two lines of evidence proves this : 1) there is no stuff, no material evidence whereas vikings left material evidence of their journey. Every traveling party leaves evidence and exploitation of ressources on a large scale would leave unambiguous traces in the archeological record mostly around extraction sites. There is none. 2) I’d like to see solid chemical evidence in provenance analysis done, a field that is well developed in archeometry and has been since the early 1940s on most elements, on said bronze in a peer reviewed journal. Since you bring up a contesting hypothesis to actually consensual and well documented processes of the metallurgical chain of production in the Mediterranean area, the burden of proof falls on you man. Why would they go through the trouble of crossing a dangerous sea when all the ressources necessary were available way closer in multiple sources? The earliest contact between North American natives and europeans dates to the viking expeditions and was restricted to a quite small range of sites mainly in greenland and some places in eastern canada. They didn’t even make it down the saint lawrence.
Yes! I love me some not-all-civilisation-starts-in-Greece. This is great. I am now googling all the lesser known ancient republics, that's my christmas sorted...
Hey Stefan! Maybe another tip to pursue: Roderick McIntosh's research into early urbanism along the Niger river. I thought of it when you spoke of the archaeology of Tlaxcalla supporting the evidence of a Tlaxcallan republic.
Thank you for covering the Tlaxcallan republic Stefan! When I saw your last Insta post I knew it would have to do with the Americas! It’s also interesting to note the Tlaxcallan republic was divided into four parts and was pretty multi ethnic, made up of Nahuas, Otomis, Acolhuas, and ‘wild Chichimeca’. I’d also like to ask you if you plan on covering the peoples of Winnemucca and Spirit Caves in the future
It was deffo multi ethnic for sure. I didn’t include the 4 part division because it seemed like there wasn’t consensus on whether that was a development post Spanish contact. I actually haven’t heard of spirit caves but I’ll look into it
Lovely video once again Stefan, I always enjoy that you explore some of the more unique and lesser known aspects of history and research it so thorougly. Including actual experts is that step beyond that I really appreciate. The art was once again of the very highest quality, extend the compliment to Rafael, his art is so good and always fits the videos so well. This was a nice Christmas present altough I kind of missed the spoon, guess it's on a well deserved holiday.
Loved it! Great information, visually rich production with the expanded artwork, and some face-to-camera stuff which we all love too. Cheers, Mikey Green.
@@StefanMilo It is such a shame that some of the earliest evidence of migration and early "settlements" are likely deep under water now, coverd by sediments.
@@StefanMilo I would love to see any of your work on the Muskogee civilization along the Mississippi, I only learned about it recently thanks to my partner, who is Choctaw and has access to some of that remembered knowledge. Cheers mate!
@@callusklaus2413 Why don't you contact the Mvskoke tribe in Okmulgee Oklahoma? They would have most of the historical information. My late mother in-law was an enrolled member in the tribe. They were part of the Five Civilized Tribes but that designation was given because most accepted Christianity. The Mvskoke (Creek) people were more closely related to the Seminole and traded with the Hitichi and even the Natchez because they lived in proximity with them. They along with the Choctaw (Chahta) spoke a language that was part of the Muskogean language stock. These videos are good for raising interest but the tribe is the best place to learn the history because it's their history and they've preserved it and survived hundreds of years of attempted genocide and land thievery and broken treaties by the U.S. government.
I shared this with the chair of Latin American Studies at a major university. His comment to me: "Looks interesting. I think he’s well read on the scholarship"
Damn that was interesting. I was expecting the iroqouis from the title and was pleasantly suprised to learn something entirely new to me:) Happy holidays to you!
That painting of the Tlaxcalan senate by Rodrigo Gutiérrez has fascinated me for years, I'm so happy that people are finally looking into these ignored parts of history
I just learned about this culture as I was reading The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by Graeber and Wengrow. They speak of many more cultures like this that experimented with republican and democratic forms of self government. They make a great case that our traditional views of history and statehood are very inaccurate and a product of our own historians looking back and imposing our current ideas on other times and cultures. They also show that much is missed in history by focusing on the main cities and empires and kingdoms. Very few humans actually lived in these early "civilizations" and we miss much by imposing our ideas and ideals on the past. I highly recommend the book, though it is long and very involved. Thanks Stephan, I always enjoy your work. Dr. Darrel Ray,
Great video, a lot of my fellow Mexican Americans pride themselves on being Aztec, when in reality youre much more likely to be Tlaxcala as the Spanish would bring them when setting up colonies.
Yeah they brought them to San Antonio, Texas after the coahuiltecans were wiped out by disease. My great great grandparents were born in San Antonio and I’m trying to figure out if I’m descended from the coahuiltecans or the Tlaxcala.
The Aztecs cover many states in mexico, they also came from the northern part of mexico (Aztlan). The mexicas covered many tribes, also includes aztecs (many groups/tribes together). Tlaxcaltecas are in a small area, many more tribes exist. Rule of thumb is the taller you are, your more from the central north to northern areas (hopi, yaqui, apache, otomi, purepechas, raramuri, etc), if your short, that's the south (mayans w larger heads and very short) or you are more from tribes in the veracruz area (toltecs) or oaxacan región (mayans, zapotecas, miztecas). Depending on the tribes, your physical appearance varies. I can usually tell what mexican region people are from. Example, Chichimecas from the Queretaro region defeated Aztecs bc they were tougher, taller, stronger than the Aztecs. I've been in their land, inside caves, visit Peña de Bernal, you can still see remnants and desendants, as well as tours. Raramuris are strongbrunners. Otomis are very creative craftsmen. Etc.
No, tlaxcaltecas do not compare in population to Aztecs, more likely they're Aztecs or a different tribe (they need to learn how each tribe has different physical attributes) , I highly double their Tlaxcaltecas. Ask for what state their parents were born and it'll pinpoint what tribe is located there.
Great video, i knew about the modern state of tlaxcala but had no idea about its fascinating history, please consider making a video about early slavic history, i love your style
Fascinating that the way we build our cities shows how we are governed, one of those differences you never think of. A modern example: the distance by road from capital to closest airport is shorter in autocracies
Fascinating, utterly fascinating Please cover more non European Republics. Idk if this is within your age brackets but there was an ethnic Chinese Republic in what is today's Borneo called Lanfang Republic. It got quite an interesting history and it was made a republic around the same time US declared independence from Britain
can i just say as a latin american, i LOVE the art in this series, it depicts in such a dignified and human manner, something not found in period art. great video!
Just found your channel a week ago and binged most of it!! Love your stuff!!! Really sparked an interest in me in prehistory particularly archaic humans. Thanks for another fascinating and insightful video, great christmas present!
I just learned about the Tlaxcalans in David Graeber’s The Dawn of Everything. It also talks about the egalitarianism among the Harappans like you did in your previous video. Fascinating stuff!
I'm extremely thankful to see more coverage of this portion of history! (I have a very slim blood connection to my ancestors) Very often it's never discussed, especially around the south western region of the US where the general narrative doesn't recognize the existence of Tlaxcalla in highschool social sciences.
Great video! Thanks for taking the time to make a video about my Mexican cultural heritage! The Tlaxcallan Senate reminds me of the Iroquois Confederacy and their Great Law of Peace, examples of democracy in Precolombian cultures shows that the political idea of “Democray” isn’t solely a European/Western invention!
Dood, I greatly appreciate your informative content on most any topic but what makes them memorable is your friendly delivery. Feel like I had an intelligent conver with a friend over a couple beers. mahalo
Excellent reporting! Thank you! This ties in nicely with recent videos by “What is Politics?” and the new book, “The Dawn of Everything” by Graber & Wengrow. Dawn argues that we shouldn’t assume that we’re stuck choosing between capitalism and (20th century versions of) autocratic communism. This video adds to the evidence that they are correct.
Great video! I already knew some things about the Tlaxcalans (Tlaxcalteca) and found them very interesting but this makes them tem ten times more fascinating.
Fun fact about the language, in words in Nahuatl, the language of the "Aztecs" and Tlaxcaltecas the letter "x" is pronounced "sh", which is the way Spanish used to prnounce the "X" a long time ago, and the "Z" is an "S". Also, the second to last syllable is always where the accent stress is placed.
Very interesting indeed. And, as you said in the beginning of the video, many cultures not only in America but around the world have been experimenting with democracy for thousands of years. And many times there were societies that were definitely more democratic than the classical example of Athens and Rome, and not always in small scale societies. Interesting book that touches on that and many other topics relating to our current understanding of humans' societies history is: "The Dawn of Everything" by David Graeber and David Wengrow; in case someone is interested.
This was a wonderful video! I have lived in the southwestern US for most of my life and yet there is so much about our neighbor, Mexico that I don't know. Thank you for the information, your videos are awesome!
The acoustics at the ball court I experienced 1st hand. You can whisper from one captain's chair to the other across over hundred yards. It's amazing. I climbed the pyramids and sat on the altar where they sacrificed prisoners etc. Really heavy
You very quickly became my favourite TH-cam channel last year, cannot wait to see what this year has in store! Keep up the incredible videos brother. Much love.
lol that’s what everyone’s commenting. I just got that book myself but haven’t read the chapter on democracy in the Americas yet. Shame they probably would’ve said something that would’ve added to this video.
"loads more videos on history and archaeology to come" glad to hear that! I wonder if there is any connection between the Tlaxcallan civilization model and the Zapatista movement?
Great to learn about this! I would be interested in your take on David Graeber and David Wengrow’s book “The Dawn of Everything”. On a different note, it is disconcerting how many people who are vehemently opposed to human sacrifice have no problem with capital punishment (especially of the extra-judicial variety).
Stumbled upon this, I'm surprised by how low the views are! I love your editing style and the way you tell the story, it makes it very interesting! I hope you will gain the attention your channel deserves.
More participatory than representative, so far as I understand it. Small councils at every level of society with consensus-based treaty-barter rather than majority rule and autonomy baked in at every level. In many ways far superior to a modern republic, imho.
I immediately thought of that when reading the title. Would like to see Stefan give his take on it. Of course, he'd use the proper names for the people and places, because the ones most non native Americans know are not authentic, including one borrowed from an Englishman's poem. That political system, which prexisted colonization by a few hundred years, apparently served as one of the influences on the US Constitution. Another interesting aspect is the role of women, both in its elaboration and in practice.
@@cathjj840 As I understand it, it was Longfellow who borrowed Hiawatha's name, not the other way around. Obviously the Longfellow poem has nothing to do with the Haudenosaunee. He just liked the way the name scanned, and appropriated it. Mind you it is a ripping poem and kids especially adore it. As for the Haudenosaunee influence, it's much deeper than you imagine. Franklin wrote a whole book about Iroquois treaties and the US congress explicitly acknowledged their inheritance of ideas from the Haudenosaunee in 1988. But Rousseau's "The Republic" was also influenced - so not just the American but the French Revolution also derived from them. And Marx and Engels wrote extensively about the Haudenosaunee system so you can pin the Russian revolution on them too. And Stanton and Mott - the original suffragettes - they acknowledged the Haudenosaunee influence as well. So the Feminist revolution as well ...
Not really representative, or democratic, unless you consider the American Constitution “representative” and “democratic”. The Iroquois Confederacy actually worked much the same way that the Holy Roman Empire did: there were electors, and they chose people for leadership positions. The difference is 1) the topmost level wasn’t a despot but a council and 2) the electors were all elderly women who represented their matrilineal clans.
New mr Stefan video right before new year, what a treat! And what a topic, wink wink ✊ Love the art, and cheers to everyone else participated in the creation of this video 💙
I don't easily subscribe to TH-cam channels, but I just subbed to you, and it's been long overdue. Every time I see one of your videos in my feed, I know it's going to be damn good.
Fascinating! I had no idea they existed. My limited knowledge started and stopped with the Mayans and Aztecs. Obviously, I was ignorant. Thanks for sharing. More on this please.
The uniformity of material culture is really interesting you’re right. Even if they had Lords and such, it clearly didn’t result in them being significantly richer.
Love your channel, your humility, your babyface and enthusiasm for history. Thanks for a wonderful year of content and hoping 2022 will bring you exciting projects. Big hug.
Great video! The Tlaxcalans rarely get acknowledged in history, at least in popular culture. When they do get recognition, its usually only in Mexico and casted as "traitors" for siding with the Spanish. In hindsight of course this alliance came to haunt them at the end but in their context it was a reasonable choice.
It's nuts how so many groups around the world essentially handed down power through a small number of families that had led them for as far back as their stories went (see the book Inequality, a Genetic History for an explanation), and others had some factors of difference that let them choose to govern themselves. Would love to find out one day what it was that got them past that bump.
This just popped up today. I’ve been looking for new content from you for a couple weeks including looking into my subscribed creators. Don’t know how I missed it for so long. Good show. Though I’m only a couple minutes into it.
Great video again! i love the variaty of subjects and the effort you put in every on of them. It is comforting to see that reading a dozen books on different subjects can be used as a blessing and at the same time so gosh darn inspiring! Thanks Milo.
Dude, you make all this knowledge of history so accessible for the lay person, me included. Thank you so much for all your content. PuhLEASE keep up the hard work in years to come!
What saddens me is that while in Europe and the Middle east and Asia we have towns and cities from Roman, medieval, and Renaissance times yet this city while thriving in the 16th century is now a ruin. I know the same is also true of older cities in other countries but this seems so recent.
It should be mentioned that even the Mexica elected their "emperor" also a Tlatoani (plural tlatoque). He was chosen by the teuctli based on his ability (though there was still nepotism). The Tlatoani wasn't originally as authoritative in Tenochtitlan but became more so as the mexica became more militarily successful. The Tlatoani was in charge of the army and foreign affairs but the people were governed by the teuctli technically. By the time of Moctezuma xocoyotl (the famous one) the Tlatoani had brought in measures that were designed to seperate the commoners from the aristocracy and restricting their ability to be promoted to nobility through military service. For these reasons Moctezuma Xocoyotl was very unpopular not only in the hegemony of the aztec "empire" but in Tenochtitlan itself.
On a more serious note...... thank you for putting this video together, it's absolutely fascinating. We rarely get to hear anything about other South American civilisations apart from the Aztecs, Incas or Mayans, which is a shame, but you've given us a brief look into these very different, democratic and fair peoples lives and how they were so different to those around them who were ruled over so harshly. Well done mate!!
Such a well researched and presented documentary. I would love to see one on the Iroquois Confederacy and how it inspired American government. I've always wanted to know more about that.
Great video; think you forgot to link to the video in the description like promised, though. Canceling my sub and bla- nah, love ya. Have a happy holiday!
All new to me and fascinating - open my eyes to the endless complexities of the human experience across time and geography. Merry Christmas Stefan! I sent you some weed in the mail. Don’t worry, I wrote “not weed or explosives” on the package.
Check out the Iroquois Confederacy. In 1988, the U.S. Senate paid tribute with a resolution that said, "The confederation of the original 13 colonies into one republic was influenced by the political system developed by the Iroquois Confederacy, as were many of the democratic principles which were incorporated into the constitution itself."
Thanks for this content. I never knew of this story/history especially in that particular region . It’s sort of similar to the Iroquois in the United States and Canada. “One of the main influences on the framers of the (U.S.) Constitution was the unwritten democratic constitution under which the Iroquois Confederacy had operated since the 16th century, according to a group of American Indians and scholars.”
Love stuff on Native American archeology, I’ve never heard of most of this
Yeah I had never heard of them either. That's why I thought they worth a video
I lived in America and still have to seek this information out. Thanks, Eurocentric Education System.
@@Squirrelanditsnutz keep brushing your teeth its good 👍😬🪥
@@StefanMilo Dou know what is impossible to find in YT?
*Prehistory of Slavs:*
- common Balto-Slavic period of Lusatian culture; did they settle their land starting from Morava River area after they arrived from Lech River Valley 1200BC, as Y-DNA suggests?
- Proto-WesternSlavic area of Przeworsk culture, and Proto-SouthEasternSlavic area of Zarubnitsy culture; did they adopt name Rus from Rossolani (Roxolans) Iranians?
Check if The Dawn of Everything. It came out last month and is all about things like this.
Just read about these guys in Dawn of Everything, absolutely bonkers how much diversity there was in Mesoamerican political systems.
Such a landmark book! ❤️
Incredible book ❤️
indeed DoE is a great book as it destroys the western myth that American or other indigenous nations were somehow thousands of years behind " enlightened europe" in terms of social and technological progress but I wanna know what Milo thinks!
Hey, me too!
@@dnavid Europe had enlightenmened Islam before enlightened Christianity XD
Really liked this video! I think fo us Mexicans it's a touchy subject, how the modern state of Tlaxcala set certain "stones" in the way for the Spanish conquest and all... Growing up in cdmx we know there are two sister republics; Yucatán and Tlaxcala. Yucatán because they had a very strong secession movement (and even were their own country for a ridiculous short time) and Tlaxcala because of what you exposed. They're the reminder of the broad palette of nations that are now under the Mexican state, but sometimes this also becomes negative. There's another popular saying, that Tlaxcala doesn't even exist. Back when the PRI created the Mestizo narrative of a homogeneous mixture of european and indigenous culture as the prevailing population in México, the glorious past of the mesoamerican civilizations was uniformed towards the Mexica and Tenochtitlan, thus making Tlaxcallan traitors and parias in the eyes of history, even though officially they've also been recognized as the cradle of mestizaje and even the model for Patria, the humanized icon of the motherland México comes famously from Tlaxco, Tlaxcala. The state has been really underdeveloped, it's lightly populated, lacks in infrastructure at the federal and private level (they celebrated a couple of years ago their first escalator in the whole state and the grand opening of their own Starbucks) and lack in opportunity and justice (the biggest network of child sex trafficking has taken over certain region) plagues their daily life, but we need to reappropriate and revalue the historical and cultural achievements of our natives from this modern state, sister republic of Tlaxcala. Thank you for this vid.
Damn I did not know the legacy of the conquest has created such hardship for people of Tlaxcala. I didn’t touch on the conquest so much here because I didn’t want to distract from their political system. I just mentioned it at the start because Cortes’ letters are a glimpse into this society.
That’s a real shame. Still I think we’re living in a time where many of the old ideas of history are changing for the better.
Leaders tend to create amazing things, but it never prevents them from doing evil. Powerful people don't typically feel obliged to follow a script other than the one they write for themselves.
Tlaxcala No Existe!! Just kidding.
@@StefanMilo it is not as much as the legacy of Conquest but of the Modern Mexican State. Tlaxcaltecas and Otomi where an active part of the Spanish Army in North América, they conquered Other tribes.
The mexican nationalistic ideas portrays them as traitors.
Man there is so much i dont know! Wow thanks the elaborate comment giving nuanced context and depth to the subject. Shout out to the Tlaxcala.
Fantastic video! It was a pleasure working with you! A very underrated and underappreciated region and period of history no doubt!
The master himself! thanks for all your help Rafa!
I always imagined the first republics on well protected rocky shores (or close to them) not in the middle of the land completely surrounded by a strong warrior empire. I wonder what conditions pushed the tlaxcalans to develop their fascinating political system
Perhaps it was as an adaptation to the empire above it. I wouldn't be surprised if they started out as a collection of culturally similar but separate tribes that when faced with a large external pressure were forced to compromise with each other for mutual defense. Overtime this could cause them to get more interconnected until they fully integrate each other into their larger political framework.
I wouldn't be surprised if they were bolstered by runaway slaves from the Aztec who also wouldn't want to have a new unaccountable master either.
Cum makes the world go round brother
I noticed that one of the three things that could get you promoted was being successful in commerce. The Italian republican cities were merchant cities, and Weber hypothesized that commerce was key to the development of democracy. It left me wondering what role this centrally-located state played in regional commerce.
Teamwork
@@SomeGuy1117 The Aztec slave population was actually tiny, never exceeding 2% of the population.
Great video! Something I think that's important to note though is that most if not all Nahua altepeme/city-states existed along a spectrum of being monarchial, to aristocratic, to oligarchical/democratic: Tlaxcala merely existed on the extreme latter end of that spectrum. Even Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, had a council of 4 political officials which allegedly elected kings (just in practice always from the same royal family), and a council of nobles which also had at least nominal power (though the specifics of these varies between sources). Likewise, recorded customary speeches and certain discussions between officials recorded in the Florentine Codex or Duran's history have kings of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco, it's sister city, consulting the common people and framing descions as things that they public needed to approve or deny. Now, surely some, likely most, of this is merely custom and nominal, and as you've explained the Tlaxcalteca take these to further extremes, but it still shows that more communal political systems was a shared cultural foundation across Nahua states.
On the other hand, I'm also under the impression that Tlaxcala, in turn, DID technically have Tlatoani/kings (you mention Tlatoque in the video, but I am specifically thinking of Tlatloque for each of the 4 subcities, like Tiztlan, tho I also know some researchers have refuted Tlaxcala being a compound city at all and such accounts being erronous) but their role in the political system was minimized compared to Tlaxcala's version of the councils Tenochtitlan had, which as you note in Tlaxcala were open to commoners. I don't have a particular source for this off the top of my head (which is how I am typing this all up, apologies for that!), but I am pretty sure that I've read that, much like how colonial period sources exaggerated the differences between Tenochtitlan and Texcoco, the former as warlike (sort of a Sparta) and the latter as intellectual (sort of like Athens), such sources also exagerrated the differences between Tenochtitlan and Tlaxcala (not that such differences don't exist or aren't significant)
I also think it would have been worth mentioning how Teotihuacan fits into this. You bring up the city and it's unusual layout, but any disscusion of represenative rule in Mesoamerica should talk about it's potential political system. For those who aren't aware, during the Mesoamerican Classic period, Teotihuacan was a major metropolis in Central Mexico (actually in a subvalley inside of the larger Valley of Mexico the Aztec political core would be located in a millennia later), It is unusual, for a number of reasons: One, it's gigantic. Housed 100,000+ denizens, and covered a total area (as of surveys from 50 years ago, so there may be more!) of 37 square kilometers. Of course, larger Maya cities had sprawls covering dozens or even hundreds of square kilometers, but in Teotihuacan, around 20 of those 37 square kilometers was the urban core itself. On that note, all the structures in that core were on a planned grid, organized not around a plaza, but a central road. As for what structures could fill this massive urban grid, it was almost all palaces: Almost every denizen in Teotihuacan lived in fancy palace/villa compounds with dozens of rooms, courtyards, painted frescos, some with toilets and running water, etc. We also know the city was multi-ethnic, with certain neighborhoods showing writing, burial patterns, art, etc from Zapotec, Maya, Gulf Coast, and West Mexican cultures.
Finally (there's also no ball courts aside from a small one early in the city's history that was buried, but, while unusual, doesn't tie into my point here) there's been no royal tombs or signs clear signs of authoritarian leadership found so far inside the city. So quite a few researchers believe it had a represenative or democratic government as well; though there's also some evidence that it invaded and installed rulers on some Maya cities like Tikal and the inscriptions that suggest that do mention Fire-Is-Born and Spearthrower-Owl, who are often talked about as Teotihuacano generals or kings, but could of course be elected officials too, perhaps (and not everybody agrees they were actually Teotihuacano)
If you (though you may already know most of it!) or anybody else is curious for more info, there's a video on the Ancient Americas channel I helped them with on Teotihuacan, there's also a pinned comment from me there with extra resources that didn't make it into the video... on THAT note, if you ever cover Mesoamerica again, feel free to reach out and I'd be glad to help if my schedule permits it, be it with research, resources, script proofreading, lending photos I have taken, etc. Rafael (who always does amazing art but really knocked it out of the park here!) or Aztlanhistorian can send you my info!
The existance of the four lordships is somewhat contentious and I'm inclined to agree that they likely were a colonial invention based on prior administrative districts.
A spectrum of common elements also applies to the ancient Greek city-states, AIUI. Popular assembly, council or aristocrats, king; but differing in the balance. Athens ended up with a very powerful Assembly, and unique(?) elements like the juries, but there are still traces of the others. Homer's Odyssey portrays Telemachus, the young prince, calling and speaking to an assembly of citizens, asking for aid against the suitors.
Ya Graeber in his work talks about Teotihican especially during that era when many temples were evidently abandoned and a more egalitarian system began afterwards
I’m from Tlaxcala but have been raised in California most of my life. I knew a little bit about Tlaxcala history, and today I learned much more. Thank you for that! Amazing history!!
When I woke up this morning, basically all I knew about Tlaxcala was that they were Cortez' most reliable allies against the Aztecs. To my eternal shame, I essentially thought of an entire culture as patsies for imperialism. They're now one of the aspects of Mesoamerican history I'm most interested to learn more about. Thank you for this video.
More like Cortez was their ally in fighting against centuries old enemy. Also, Triple Alliance was imperialist nation
Out of the 4 or 500 Spanish who came in 1521 revolt, only like 8 survived. Hardly a Spanish victory, especially when the revolting natives totaled 20000-4
E
30000plus
Tlaxcala made up like 98% of the troops. They had already sacked Tenochtilan 100 years before the Iberians arrived, during the Aztcapuzalco war. they also helped establish the tripple alliance with Nezacoyotl. Basically, Tlaxcala is Russia and Aztec tripple alliance is Germany. During the Napeolonic wars, France captured Berlin and then Russia bailed out the Prussians-Germans and allied with them to take out the French. Now that Germany had peace it was allowed to grow and unify a became a powerhouse, this eventually sets up a war with Germany and its old ally Russia in WW2. So by the time the Americans arrived in WW2 the Russians already had the war won. .. By the time the Iberians arrived, the Tlaxcalans had already won the war with Cholula defecting and joining Tlaxcala.
People also sleep on Malinche, she was actually leading the resitance of the veracruz mayans. She was basically backing Tlaxcala to become a buffer state against the growing Aztec power.
Even if the Spanish never arrived and they had defeated the Tlaxcalans, the Aztec would have faced a far larger threat in Guadalajara in the TARASCAN empire. Surely indeed, when colonization happened, Guadalajara became more powerful than Mexico City in the 1600s. Mexico City was cultuaral and religious powerhouse but Guadalajara was an economic and military power. Mexico City does not become a super city again until the early 1900s under Lazaro Cardenas.
@@poleroso85 stop with this Spanish apologist nonsense
When I woke up this morning, basically all I knew about Tlaxcala was that my knowledge about me even having knowledge about the mere existence of Tlaxcala doesn't exist.
Native American cultures need SOOOOOOOO much more media exposure. Thank you so much for being part of the solution. Cheers, friend!
Then you would find out they were never talking about modern Mexicans!
I love how you refer to them as native americans, even if they lived outside modern day US
Agreed, away from the narratives, history should be told completley.
@@donzo8821 Well, the actual mexicans are a mix between native americans, africans and spaniards.
@@biomuseum6645 the continent they live in is called America
There was another republic too in the north east, the iroquois confederation. A lot of the archaeology research on it was done by French Canadians and is only available in french, but there’s quite a lot of material in English too.
It’s an all around fascinating video, thank you Stefan for the quality of the content you produce. What a man.
I first thought of them, too. The Iroquois Confederation was really close to where I grew up. Hearing about Tlaxcalla is really cool as well
pheonicians came, the ancestors of Vikings!, did you know most of bronze from greek shields come from mines in lake michigan
@@professor_kaosdrama3993 no it doesn’t and no they didn’t come. It’s a myth without empirical evidence to back it up even though Michigan archeology is pretty well developed.
Two lines of evidence proves this : 1) there is no stuff, no material evidence whereas vikings left material evidence of their journey. Every traveling party leaves evidence and exploitation of ressources on a large scale would leave unambiguous traces in the archeological record mostly around extraction sites. There is none.
2) I’d like to see solid chemical evidence in provenance analysis done, a field that is well developed in archeometry and has been since the early 1940s on most elements, on said bronze in a peer reviewed journal.
Since you bring up a contesting hypothesis to actually consensual and well documented processes of the metallurgical chain of production in the Mediterranean area, the burden of proof falls on you man. Why would they go through the trouble of crossing a dangerous sea when all the ressources necessary were available way closer in multiple sources?
The earliest contact between North American natives and europeans dates to the viking expeditions and was restricted to a quite small range of sites mainly in greenland and some places in eastern canada. They didn’t even make it down the saint lawrence.
The "Iroquois Confederacy" still exists. There is no need to speak of all Indigenous Peoples in past tense form.
@@TruthArrows thanks for saying this.
Just finished my first semester of college for anthropology, thanks for all the inspiration and keep up the good work!
Thanks for watching!
Yes! I love me some not-all-civilisation-starts-in-Greece. This is great. I am now googling all the lesser known ancient republics, that's my christmas sorted...
Hells to the yes! Yeah ancient republics are super interesting!
No one ever said that lol. You just watch European content and are upset they focus on European history 😂
Fantastic and well done! Happy new year!
Hey Stefan! Maybe another tip to pursue: Roderick McIntosh's research into early urbanism along the Niger river. I thought of it when you spoke of the archaeology of Tlaxcalla supporting the evidence of a Tlaxcallan republic.
Great video! Slick editing and a topic I knew nothing about.
*Slowly steals Stefan‘s video-making process *
Thank you for covering the Tlaxcallan republic Stefan! When I saw your last Insta post I knew it would have to do with the Americas! It’s also interesting to note the Tlaxcallan republic was divided into four parts and was pretty multi ethnic, made up of Nahuas, Otomis, Acolhuas, and ‘wild Chichimeca’.
I’d also like to ask you if you plan on covering the peoples of Winnemucca and Spirit Caves in the future
It was deffo multi ethnic for sure. I didn’t include the 4 part division because it seemed like there wasn’t consensus on whether that was a development post Spanish contact.
I actually haven’t heard of spirit caves but I’ll look into it
Lovely video once again Stefan, I always enjoy that you explore some of the more unique and lesser known aspects of history and research it so thorougly. Including actual experts is that step beyond that I really appreciate. The art was once again of the very highest quality, extend the compliment to Rafael, his art is so good and always fits the videos so well. This was a nice Christmas present altough I kind of missed the spoon, guess it's on a well deserved holiday.
Thanks OmVi, this next year I'm deffo trying to include more experts in the vids.
Loved it! Great information, visually rich production with the expanded artwork, and some face-to-camera stuff which we all love too. Cheers, Mikey Green.
Thanks Doc!
Thank you. I wonder so much about the pre-Columbian civilizations that existed in the Americas. I wish we knew more. And we will.
Yeah they're really fascinating. I'll have to cover them more!
@@StefanMilo It is such a shame that some of the earliest evidence of migration and early "settlements" are likely deep under water now, coverd by sediments.
@@StefanMilo I would love to see any of your work on the Muskogee civilization along the Mississippi, I only learned about it recently thanks to my partner, who is Choctaw and has access to some of that remembered knowledge.
Cheers mate!
@@callusklaus2413 Why don't you contact the Mvskoke tribe in Okmulgee Oklahoma? They would have most of the historical information. My late mother in-law was an enrolled member in the tribe. They were part of the Five Civilized Tribes but that designation was given because most accepted Christianity. The Mvskoke (Creek) people were more closely related to the Seminole and traded with the Hitichi and even the Natchez because they lived in proximity with them. They along with the Choctaw (Chahta) spoke a language that was part of the Muskogean language stock. These videos are good for raising interest but the tribe is the best place to learn the history because it's their history and they've preserved it and survived hundreds of years of attempted genocide and land thievery and broken treaties by the U.S. government.
@@gnostic268 That's a really good suggestion, I think I'll spin up an email!
YES! Was just rewatching your last two videos and thinking “I hope we get a new video before the end of the year”. Love your work! ♥️
Thank you! I tried to get it done as quickly as possible but not being an expert on mesoamerica I had to fact check a lot!
@@StefanMiloi can imagine it took a lot of research, wishing you all the best and have a happy new year! ♥️
I shared this with the chair of Latin American Studies at a major university. His comment to me: "Looks interesting. I think he’s well read on the scholarship"
Damn that was interesting. I was expecting the iroqouis from the title and was pleasantly suprised to learn something entirely new to me:)
Happy holidays to you!
That painting of the Tlaxcalan senate by Rodrigo Gutiérrez has fascinated me for years, I'm so happy that people are finally looking into these ignored parts of history
I just learned about this culture as I was reading The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by Graeber and Wengrow. They speak of many more cultures like this that experimented with republican and democratic forms of self government. They make a great case that our traditional views of history and statehood are very inaccurate and a product of our own historians looking back and imposing our current ideas on other times and cultures. They also show that much is missed in history by focusing on the main cities and empires and kingdoms. Very few humans actually lived in these early "civilizations" and we miss much by imposing our ideas and ideals on the past. I highly recommend the book, though it is long and very involved. Thanks Stephan, I always enjoy your work. Dr. Darrel Ray,
I actually just got it myself, haven’t reached the part about Tlaxcala but I’m enjoying it for sure.
Great video, a lot of my fellow Mexican Americans pride themselves on being Aztec, when in reality youre much more likely to be Tlaxcala as the Spanish would bring them when setting up colonies.
Yeah they brought them to San Antonio, Texas after the coahuiltecans were wiped out by disease. My great great grandparents were born in San Antonio and I’m trying to figure out if I’m descended from the coahuiltecans or the Tlaxcala.
The Aztecs cover many states in mexico, they also came from the northern part of mexico (Aztlan). The mexicas covered many tribes, also includes aztecs (many groups/tribes together). Tlaxcaltecas are in a small area, many more tribes exist. Rule of thumb is the taller you are, your more from the central north to northern areas (hopi, yaqui, apache, otomi, purepechas, raramuri, etc), if your short, that's the south (mayans w larger heads and very short) or you are more from tribes in the veracruz area (toltecs) or oaxacan región (mayans, zapotecas, miztecas). Depending on the tribes, your physical appearance varies. I can usually tell what mexican region people are from. Example, Chichimecas from the Queretaro region defeated Aztecs bc they were tougher, taller, stronger than the Aztecs. I've been in their land, inside caves, visit Peña de Bernal, you can still see remnants and desendants, as well as tours. Raramuris are strongbrunners. Otomis are very creative craftsmen. Etc.
No, tlaxcaltecas do not compare in population to Aztecs, more likely they're Aztecs or a different tribe (they need to learn how each tribe has different physical attributes) , I highly double their Tlaxcaltecas. Ask for what state their parents were born and it'll pinpoint what tribe is located there.
traitors
@@jj-bp3frRomans were shorter than their barbarian adversaries, i have no idea where you came to this conclusion
Great video, i knew about the modern state of tlaxcala but had no idea about its fascinating history, please consider making a video about early slavic history, i love your style
Fascinating that the way we build our cities shows how we are governed, one of those differences you never think of.
A modern example: the distance by road from capital to closest airport is shorter in autocracies
Fascinating, utterly fascinating
Please cover more non European Republics. Idk if this is within your age brackets but there was an ethnic Chinese Republic in what is today's Borneo called Lanfang Republic. It got quite an interesting history and it was made a republic around the same time US declared independence from Britain
can i just say as a latin american, i LOVE the art in this series, it depicts in such a dignified and human manner, something not found in period art. great video!
Just found your channel a week ago and binged most of it!! Love your stuff!!! Really sparked an interest in me in prehistory particularly archaic humans. Thanks for another fascinating and insightful video, great christmas present!
I just learned about the Tlaxcalans in David Graeber’s The Dawn of Everything. It also talks about the egalitarianism among the Harappans like you did in your previous video. Fascinating stuff!
I'm extremely thankful to see more coverage of this portion of history! (I have a very slim blood connection to my ancestors) Very often it's never discussed, especially around the south western region of the US where the general narrative doesn't recognize the existence of Tlaxcalla in highschool social sciences.
Great video! Thanks for taking the time to make a video about my Mexican cultural heritage! The Tlaxcallan Senate reminds me of the Iroquois Confederacy and their Great Law of Peace, examples of democracy in Precolombian cultures shows that the political idea of “Democray” isn’t solely a European/Western invention!
Dood, I greatly appreciate your informative content on most any topic but what makes them memorable is your friendly delivery. Feel like I had an intelligent conver with a friend over a couple beers. mahalo
In order to be recognized in the plaza, and speak, you had to hold THE SPOON
Very interesting to hear Cortez making direct comparisons between Tlaxcallan and Granada & Genoa, love it when primary sources can deliver like that!
Excellent reporting! Thank you! This ties in nicely with recent videos by “What is Politics?” and the new book, “The Dawn of Everything” by Graber & Wengrow. Dawn argues that we shouldn’t assume that we’re stuck choosing between capitalism and (20th century versions of) autocratic communism. This video adds to the evidence that they are correct.
I’m really enjoy both the book itself and longform review of it by What is Politics! What an awesome combo.
same here! (the dawn of everything)
I have become obsessed with Central American history. It’s the coolest thing ever
My absolute favorite archaeological channel on the whole internet.....thank you for the education and escape into the past.
Muy buena información. Gracias 👏🏼
Great video! I already knew some things about the Tlaxcalans (Tlaxcalteca) and found them very interesting but this makes them tem ten times more fascinating.
Fun fact about the language, in words in Nahuatl, the language of the "Aztecs" and Tlaxcaltecas the letter "x" is pronounced "sh", which is the way Spanish used to prnounce the "X" a long time ago, and the "Z" is an "S". Also, the second to last syllable is always where the accent stress is placed.
This is new to me. Thanks. All republics are individual as are all monarchies and it's important to learn how they work.
Very interesting indeed. And, as you said in the beginning of the video, many cultures not only in America but around the world have been experimenting with democracy for thousands of years. And many times there were societies that were definitely more democratic than the classical example of Athens and Rome, and not always in small scale societies.
Interesting book that touches on that and many other topics relating to our current understanding of humans' societies history is: "The Dawn of Everything" by David Graeber and David Wengrow; in case someone is interested.
This was a wonderful video! I have lived in the southwestern US for most of my life and yet there is so much about our neighbor, Mexico that I don't know. Thank you for the information, your videos are awesome!
The acoustics at the ball court I experienced 1st hand. You can whisper from one captain's chair to the other across over hundred yards. It's amazing. I climbed the pyramids and sat on the altar where they sacrificed prisoners etc. Really heavy
Awesome video! Very cool seeing you tackle other regions like you did with the Swahili. Can't wait for other content ❤
Incredibly interesting, never even heard of this culture before. Thanks a lot, sir.
Thank you!
You very quickly became my favourite TH-cam channel last year, cannot wait to see what this year has in store! Keep up the incredible videos brother. Much love.
I saw this video from the artist who made the thumbnail and I love it, great work! Thank you for uplifting and sharing indigenous history!
The Stefan Milo production quality is just going up and up. What a video, what a man. Keep it up SM, loving your work.
Your stuff is always great, Thanks Bud!
What perfect timing! I just finished the chapter in David Greaber and David Wengrow's The Dawn of Everything where they talk about Tlaxcallan
lol that’s what everyone’s commenting. I just got that book myself but haven’t read the chapter on democracy in the Americas yet. Shame they probably would’ve said something that would’ve added to this video.
"loads more videos on history and archaeology to come" glad to hear that! I wonder if there is any connection between the Tlaxcallan civilization model and the Zapatista movement?
Great to learn about this! I would be interested in your take on David Graeber and David Wengrow’s book “The Dawn of Everything”. On a different note, it is disconcerting how many people who are vehemently opposed to human sacrifice have no problem with capital punishment (especially of the extra-judicial variety).
Stumbled upon this, I'm surprised by how low the views are! I love your editing style and the way you tell the story, it makes it very interesting! I hope you will gain the attention your channel deserves.
The Iroquois Confederacy has been classified as a "representative democracy", very close to being a republic.
More participatory than representative, so far as I understand it. Small councils at every level of society with consensus-based treaty-barter rather than majority rule and autonomy baked in at every level. In many ways far superior to a modern republic, imho.
I immediately thought of that when reading the title. Would like to see Stefan give his take on it. Of course, he'd use the proper names for the people and places, because the ones most non native Americans know are not authentic, including one borrowed from an Englishman's poem. That political system, which prexisted colonization by a few hundred years, apparently served as one of the influences on the US Constitution. Another interesting aspect is the role of women, both in its elaboration and in practice.
@@cathjj840 As I understand it, it was Longfellow who borrowed Hiawatha's name, not the other way around. Obviously the Longfellow poem has nothing to do with the Haudenosaunee. He just liked the way the name scanned, and appropriated it.
Mind you it is a ripping poem and kids especially adore it.
As for the Haudenosaunee influence, it's much deeper than you imagine. Franklin wrote a whole book about Iroquois treaties and the US congress explicitly acknowledged their inheritance of ideas from the Haudenosaunee in 1988. But Rousseau's "The Republic" was also influenced - so not just the American but the French Revolution also derived from them. And Marx and Engels wrote extensively about the Haudenosaunee system so you can pin the Russian revolution on them too. And Stanton and Mott - the original suffragettes - they acknowledged the Haudenosaunee influence as well. So the Feminist revolution as well ...
Not really representative, or democratic, unless you consider the American Constitution “representative” and “democratic”. The Iroquois Confederacy actually worked much the same way that the Holy Roman Empire did: there were electors, and they chose people for leadership positions. The difference is 1) the topmost level wasn’t a despot but a council and 2) the electors were all elderly women who represented their matrilineal clans.
New mr Stefan video right before new year, what a treat! And what a topic, wink wink ✊
Love the art, and cheers to everyone else participated in the creation of this video 💙
Bravo Stefane uživam gledati tvoje videe!
I don't easily subscribe to TH-cam channels, but I just subbed to you, and it's been long overdue. Every time I see one of your videos in my feed, I know it's going to be damn good.
What an eye-opener! Thanks, good to see another Stefan Milo Video!
Fascinating! I had no idea they existed. My limited knowledge started and stopped with the Mayans and Aztecs. Obviously, I was ignorant. Thanks for sharing. More on this please.
This was amazing so many things barely discussed in Latin America history about native peoples, their governments and society. Loved the video
It might not have been an egalitarian utopia, but it does show the hallmarks of social democracy
The uniformity of material culture is really interesting you’re right. Even if they had Lords and such, it clearly didn’t result in them being significantly richer.
This is incredible Stefan, also your new logo is dope AF
The Iroquoi Confederacy is also another famous and fascinating indigenous state that had a separation of powers. They even had a constitution.
Happy holidays and a healthy new year! Much love and success. Miss your uploads . Also thanks for turning me on to so many other great channels.
Amazing video Stefan!
Been following your channel for a year or two now!
Learned so much about history!
Love your channel, your humility, your babyface and enthusiasm for history. Thanks for a wonderful year of content and hoping 2022 will bring you exciting projects. Big hug.
That maquette of the plaza/market with all the details was something else.
Man you had to upload this right as I was gonna go out 😔
Great video! The Tlaxcalans rarely get acknowledged in history, at least in popular culture. When they do get recognition, its usually only in Mexico and casted as "traitors" for siding with the Spanish. In hindsight of course this alliance came to haunt them at the end but in their context it was a reasonable choice.
Excellent video, as ever. And hugs props to Rafael Mena for his fantastic artwork. He does such a great job bringing these scenes to life.
Thanks for the great overview of History and I loved all the artwork and pictures of architecture
It's nuts how so many groups around the world essentially handed down power through a small number of families that had led them for as far back as their stories went (see the book Inequality, a Genetic History for an explanation), and others had some factors of difference that let them choose to govern themselves. Would love to find out one day what it was that got them past that bump.
This just popped up today. I’ve been looking for new content from you for a couple weeks including looking into my subscribed creators. Don’t know how I missed it for so long. Good show. Though I’m only a couple minutes into it.
Great video again! i love the variaty of subjects and the effort you put in every on of them. It is comforting to see that reading a dozen books on different subjects can be used as a blessing and at the same time so gosh darn inspiring! Thanks Milo.
Dude, you make all this knowledge of history so accessible for the lay person, me included. Thank you so much for all your content. PuhLEASE keep up the hard work in years to come!
So excited to see you've posted. Thank you so much for another wonderful video, brilliant insight and engaging presentation
What saddens me is that while in Europe and the Middle east and Asia we have towns and cities from Roman, medieval, and Renaissance times yet this city while thriving in the 16th century is now a ruin.
I know the same is also true of older cities in other countries but this seems so recent.
As a descended, this has given me much interest in their history. Much appreciated.
Thank you for bringing forth this very fascinating piece of pre-Colombian history in such an open minded way.
Omg yay! As both a major archeology nerd, and a citizen of the Catawba nation, this is a wonderful Christmas present! Can't wait to watch it!
Hope you enjoy it!
hadnt heard from you in awhile, i just checked your channel yesterday! so excited to see a new vid out :)
It should be mentioned that even the Mexica elected their "emperor" also a Tlatoani (plural tlatoque). He was chosen by the teuctli based on his ability (though there was still nepotism). The Tlatoani wasn't originally as authoritative in Tenochtitlan but became more so as the mexica became more militarily successful. The Tlatoani was in charge of the army and foreign affairs but the people were governed by the teuctli technically. By the time of Moctezuma xocoyotl (the famous one) the Tlatoani had brought in measures that were designed to seperate the commoners from the aristocracy and restricting their ability to be promoted to nobility through military service. For these reasons Moctezuma Xocoyotl was very unpopular not only in the hegemony of the aztec "empire" but in Tenochtitlan itself.
Been waiting so long for a new video, great stuff
OMG, I am SOOOOOOO happy to find a new video!!! THANKS THANKS THANKS!!!
Wait… I was told Christopher Columbus discovered America. There’s even a national holiday celebrating his achievement
On a more serious note...... thank you for putting this video together, it's absolutely fascinating. We rarely get to hear anything about other South American civilisations apart from the Aztecs, Incas or Mayans, which is a shame, but you've given us a brief look into these very different, democratic and fair peoples lives and how they were so different to those around them who were ruled over so harshly. Well done mate!!
the Republic of Tlaxcallan was in North America, not South America.
The Mayans and Aztecs were also in North America.
@@bryanperez7114 that's why I am pleased about some education on it because very few info gets put out there.
Such a well researched and presented documentary. I would love to see one on the Iroquois Confederacy and how it inspired American government. I've always wanted to know more about that.
Benjamin franklin incorporated many of the Algonquin federation's political system into the AUS government, especial having two parts to congress
Great video; think you forgot to link to the video in the description like promised, though. Canceling my sub and bla- nah, love ya. Have a happy holiday!
You're right I forgot, here it is though th-cam.com/video/or6W4sXpl3c/w-d-xo.html
Such a great video, this information is gold. Excellent presentation. Thank you very very much, the fact that is free content is such a priveledge!
loving the new style and the end credts but my only complaint is WHERES THE SPOON?
All new to me and fascinating - open my eyes to the endless complexities of the human experience across time and geography.
Merry Christmas Stefan! I sent you some weed in the mail. Don’t worry, I wrote “not weed or explosives” on the package.
I love videos like this. You should check out some of the Mississippian mound building civilizations of the southeastern US.
Check out the Iroquois Confederacy. In 1988, the U.S. Senate paid tribute with a resolution that said, "The confederation of the original 13 colonies into one republic was influenced by the political system developed by the Iroquois Confederacy, as were many of the democratic principles which were incorporated into the constitution itself."
This is what car culture has made us forget - everyone needs a walking distance public space. A plaza.
Thanks for this content. I never knew of this story/history especially in that particular region
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It’s sort of similar to the Iroquois in the United States and Canada.
“One of the main influences on the framers of the (U.S.) Constitution was the unwritten democratic constitution under which the Iroquois Confederacy had operated since the 16th century, according to a group of American Indians and scholars.”
I believe it predated colonization by a couple of centuries.