ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <title>Patriot Week - First Principles - Social Compact</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="css/main_layout.css"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="images/logo.ico" type="image/x-icon" /> </head> <body> <div id="wrapper"> <div id="header"> <div id="logo"></div> </div> <div id="main"> <div id="top_bg"></div><!--/top_bg--> <div id="content_bg"> <div id="content"> <!-- Navigation -------------------------------> <div id="nav"> <div id="nav_item1"> <div id="dropDownWrapper" class="menu_text"> <div id="menuItem" onclick="location.href='index.html';"><a href="index.html">Home</a></div><!--/menuItem--> <div id="line"></div> <div id="menuItemCurrentSub" onclick="location.href='first-principles.html';"><a 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governed</strong> <br /><br /> The Declaration of Independence recognizes as a self-evident truth that &ldquo;governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . . .&rdquo; <br /><br /> There are two aspects to this First Principle of the Social Compact. First, that legitimate governments are instituted among the people; second, that the just powers of the government are derived from the consent of the people. <br /><br /> The Founding Fathers derived much of their understanding of this First Principle from John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and other like-minded philosophers. <br /><br /> The Founding Fathers believed that because conflict is inevitable in a state of nature, individuals united in civil societies and established government to secure the peace. James Madison reflected that &ldquo;If men were angels, no government would be necessary.&rdquo; But men are not angels, Alexander Hamilton noted, and government becomes necessary to restrain &ldquo;the passions of men.&rdquo; Thus, paradoxically, legal restraints are necessary to preserve liberty. The alternative is vigilantism  which Hobbes aptly termed a &ldquo;war of every one against every one.&rdquo; <br /><br /> The second aspect of the Social Compact is that the people must consent to give the government its authority. Robert Bates, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, explained that &ldquo;In every free government, the people must give their assent to the laws by which they are governed. This is the true criterion between a free government and an arbitrary one.&rdquo; <br /><br /> Indeed, the American Revolution was strongly motivated by a defense of this First Principle. The cry of &ldquo;no taxation without representation&rdquo; was directly derived from the Social Compact. <br /><br /> The Social Compact is an indispensable First Principle of American freedom. </div> </div><!--/leftcolumn--> <div id="right_column"> <img src="images/social_compact.jpg" /> <div id="rightBodyBlock" class="disclaimer_text">&ldquo;We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union&rdquo;</div> <br /> <div id="rightBodyBlock" class="body_text"> <ul> <li class="no_bullet"><a href="first-principles.html">The First Principles</a></li> <li>September 11: <a href="revolution.html">Revolution</a></li> <li>September 12: <a href="rule-of-law.html">The Rule of Law</a></li> <li>September 13: <a href="social-compact.html">The Social Compact</a></li> <li>September 14: <a href="equality-gender.html">Equality - Gender</a></li> <li>September 15: <a href="equality-race.html">Equality - Race</a></li> <li>September 16: <a href="unalienable-rights.html">Unalienable Rights</a></li> <li>September 17: <a href="limited-government.html">Limited Government</a></li> </ul> </div> <br /><br /> <div id="rightBodyBlock" class="tagline_text"><b>Help Renew the Spirit of America.</b></div> <div id="cta" onclick="location.href='join-the-effort.html';"></div> <div id="facebook"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119416264739170&ref=ts" target="_blank"><img src="images/facebook.jpg" alt="Find us on Facebook" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/PatriotWeek"><img src="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/upload/badges/afd40ba764twitterbutton-0106.gif" title="By: TwitterButtons.com" alt="By: TwitterButtons.com" width="195"/></a></div> </div><!--/rightColumn--> <div style="clear:both"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="footer"> <div id="horiz_line"><img src="images/horiz_line.gif" width="900" height="1" align="absmiddle"/></div> <div id="footer_content" class="footer_text"> <b>About Patriot Week</b> <br />&#187; <a href="index.html">Home</a> <br />&#187; <a href="first-principles.html">First Principles</a> <br />&#187; <a href="founding-fathers-patriots.html">Founding Fathers/Patriots</a> <br />&#187; <a href="activities.html">Activities</a> <br />&#187; <a href="schedule.html">Patriot Week Schedule</a><br />&#187; <a href="2011-public-events.html">2011 Public Events</a> </div> <div id="vert_line"><img src="images/vert_line.gif" width="1" height="130" /></div> <div id="footer_content" class="footer_text"> <b>Patriot Week Resources</b> <br />&#187; <a href="materials-resources.html">Materials and Resources</a> <br />&#187; <a href="flags.html">Flags</a> <br />&#187; <a href="documents-speeches.html">Documents and Speeches</a> <br />&#187; <a href="original-constitution.html">Original Constitution</a> </div> <div id="vert_line"><img src="images/vert_line.gif" width="1" height="130" /></div> <div id="footer_content" class="footer_text"> <b>Participants & Organizers</b> <br />&#187; <a href="2010-participants.html">2010 Participants</a> <br />&#187; <a href="2009-participants.html">2009 Participants</a> <br />&#187; <a href="board-of-directors.html">Board of Directors</a><br />&#187; <a href="advisory-board.html">Advisory Board</a> <br />&#187; <a href="about-judge-warren.html">About Judge Warren</a> </div> <div id="vert_line"><img src="images/vert_line.gif" width="1" height="130" /></div> <div id="footer_content" class="footer_text"> <b>Media / News</b><br /> &#187; <a href="media-clips.html">Media Clips</a><br /> &#187; <a href="movies.html">Movies</a><br /> &#187; <a href="michigan-senate-resolution.html">2009 Michigan Senate Resolution</a><br /> &#187; <a href="2010-michigan-senate-resolution.html">2010 Michigan Senate Resolution</a><br /> &#187; <a href="2011-Michigan-Senate-Resolution.html">2011 Michigan Senate Resolution</a><br /> &#187; <a href="2010-michigan-house-resolution.html">2010 Michigan House Resolution</a><br /> &#187; <a href="2011-michigan-house-bill-4464.htm">2011 Michigan House Bill 4464</a><br /> &#187; <a href="2011-Michigan-Senate-Bill-282.html">2011 Michigan Senate Bill 282</a><br /> &#187; <a href="newspaper-articles.html">Newspaper Articles</a> </div> <div id="vert_line"><img src="images/vert_line.gif" width="1" height="130" /></div> <div id="footer_content" class="footer_text"> &#187; <b><a href="join-the-effort.html">Join the Effort</a></b> <br />&#187; <b><a href="contact-patriot-week.html">Contact Patriot Week</a></b> <br />&#187; <b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119416264739170&ref=ts" target="_blank">Find Us on Facebook</a></b> </div> <div id="end_cap"> <div class="copyright">&#169; 2010 Patriot Week</div> </div> </div><!--/footer--> <div id="end_cap_bottom"></div> </div><!--/wrapper--> </body> </html>