The Source Of Allegiance

Promises And The Establishment Of Government

Government is a very advantageous invention. Sometimes, it is even absolutely necessary to mankind. It is not necessary in all circumstances. It is possible for men to preserve society for some time without government. People are always much inclined to prefer present interest to a distant and remote interest. We cannot easily resist the temptation of any immediate advantage, in apprehension of an evil that lies a distance away. This weakness is less conspicuous when life’s possessions and pleasures are few and of little value. This is always the case in society’s infancy. A Native American is little tempted to: dispossess another of his hut, or steal his bow, since he already has the same advantages. Doing so in hunting and fishing: is only casual and temporary, and will disturb society only a little.

Men are capable of society without government.
    The first rudiments of government arise from quarrels, not among men of the same society, but among men of different societies.
Fewer riches are needed to create external conflicts, than is needed to create internal conflicts.
Men fear public war and violence because of the resistance they meet.
    It seems less terrible because:
        they share it in common, and
        it comes from strangers.
    It has less pernicious consequences than a war with a society whose commerce is advantageous and essential to them.
A foreign war to a society without government necessarily produces civil war.
    Throw any considerable goods among people, they instantly fall into quarreling.
    Each strives to get what pleases him without regard to the consequences.
    In a foreign war, the most considerable of all goods, life and limbs, are at stake.
        Everyone:
            shuns dangerous ports,
            seizes the best arms, and
            seeks excuse for the slightest wounds.
        The laws during peacetime can no longer take place during such a commotion.

We find this in the American tribes where people live in concord among themselves without any government.
    They only submit to their fellows during wartime.
    Their captain then enjoys a shadow of authority which he loses after:
        their return from the field, and
        the establishment of peace.
However, this authority:
    instructs them in the advantages of government, and
    teaches them to have recourse to it, when their riches and possessions have become so considerable.
        These riches make them forget their interest in the preservation of peace and justice.
This is a plausible reason why:
    all governments are at first monarchical, without any mixture and variety, and
    republics arise only from the abuses of monarchy and despotic power.
Camps are the true mothers of cities.
War cannot be administered without some authority in a single person.
    The same kind of authority naturally takes place in that civil government which succeeds the military.
This reason is more natural than the common reason derived from patriarchal government, or a father's authority.
    The patriarchal government is said to:
        take place first in one family, and
        accustom its members to the government of one person.
A society without government is one of the most natural states of men.
    It must submit with the conjunction of many families long after the first generation.
    Only an increase of riches and possessions could oblige men to quit it.
All societies are so barbarous on their first formation.
    Many years must pass before these can increase to disturb people from enjoying peace and concord.
    People cannot maintain any society without justice and the observance of those three fundamental laws on:
        the stability of possession,
        its translation by consent, and
        the performance of promises.
    Therefore, these are:
        antecedent to government, and
        supposed to impose an obligation before the duty of allegiance to civil magistrates.
On its first establishment, the government would naturally derive its obligation from those laws of nature, particularly from the law on the performance of promises.
    After men perceive the necessity of government to maintain peace and justice, they naturally:
        assemble together,
        choose magistrates,
        determine power, and
        promise them obedience.
A promise is supposed to be a bond or security already in use.
    It is attended with a moral obligation.
    It is to be considered as:
        the original sanction of government, and
        the source of the first obligation to obedience.
This reasoning appears so natural.
    It has become the foundation of our fashionable system of politics.
    It is the creed of a party among us, who reasonably pride themselves on the:
        soundness of their philosophy, and
        their liberty of thought.
They say all men are born free and equal.
    Government and superiority can only be established by consent.
    Men's consent in establishing government imposes a new obligation unknown to the laws of nature.
    Therefore, men are bound to obey their magistrates only because they promise it.
        If they had not given their word expressly or tacitly to preserve allegiance, it would never have become a part of their moral duty.
However, this conclusion is entirely erroneous when applied to governments in all its ages and situations.
    The duty of allegiance is:
        initially grafted on the obligation of promises, and
        supported by that obligation for some time.
    Yet it:
        quickly takes root of itself, and
        has an original obligation and authority, independent of all contracts.
    We must examine this principle carefully.