Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/611

 EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL STRUCTURES S9S

and finds in it the basis of his science. The first effect is the subjugation of one race by another. The second effect is the establishment of a system of caste, the conquering race assuming the role of a superior or noble caste, and the conquered race being relegated to the position of an inferior or ignoble caste. The greater part of the conquered race is enslaved, and the institution of slavery begins here. The slaves are compelled to work, and labor in the economic sense begins here. The enslavement of the producers and the compelling them to work was the only way in which mankind could have been taught to labor, and therefore the whole industrial system of society begins here.

The conquerors parcel out the lands to the leading military chieftains, and the institution of private ownership of land has its origin at this stage. Success in war is attributed to the favor of the gods, and those who pretend to be in communication with the gods are the most favored of men. They are installed in high places and made the recipients of large emoluments. From the condition of sorcerers, soothsayers, and medicine-men they are raised to that of a powerful priesthood. Henceforth they constitute a leisure class, and this is the origin of that most important human institution. Mutual race-hatred results in per- petual uprisings, requiring constant suppression by the military power. This is costly, dangerous, and precarious, and wisdom soon dictates a form of systematic treatment for offenders. Per- sonal regulation gradually gives way to general rules, and these ultimately take the form of laws. Government by law gradually succeeds government by arbitrary military commands. The effect of this is nothing less than the origin of the state. The state is the most important of all human institutions. There is no institu- tion about which so much has been written, and even in our day volumes are yearly appearing vainly endeavoring to explain the origin and nature of the state. They all completely miss the mark, and flounder in a sea of vague and worthless speculation. The state is a spontaneous genetic product, resulting, like all other social structures, from the interaction of antagonistic forces, checking and restraining one another and evolving a great social structure destined to become the condition to all social progress.