The First American Founding - 92 B.C., Part 2: An Experiment in Liberty

Come Follow Me (Mosiah 29 - Alma 1-4)

"It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force." (Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers, No. 1)

Mosiah Chapter 29 is a pivotal point in Nephite history and mirrors the American founding of the 18th century. King Mosiah seemed to share the opinion of Joseph Smith that if his people were taught correct principles, they could govern themselves without the need for a sovereign king.

As I wrote in Part 1 (https://www.laureensimper.com/post/the-first-american-founding-92-b-c-part-1-setting-the-stage), Mosiah spent a great deal of time reading the records of his people's past and concluded that moving forward, it would be unwise to establish another king.

Mosiah outlined why wicked rulers harm an entire nation in verses 16-23, as the memories of King Noah were still fresh. Appointing toady associates to support corruption, changing laws to insulate corrupt leaders from accountability, destroying any opposition to shore up their power, ... Wow. Again - hard to tell if I'm referring to scripture or current news to compile that list of the danger of corrupt rulers.

The daring proposal was put forth: what if you govern yourselves, and elect judges to oversee cases of dispute and law breaking? You choose your leaders, and agree to be accountable to them under the law.

Higher and lower courts were proposed to assure a separation of power and a set of checks and balances. King Mosiah emphasized the point again and again - this will only work if most of you are capable of doing the right thing without being forced to do it.

"Now it is not common that the voice of the people desire anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law - to do your business by the voice of the people."

"And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you..." (Mosiah 29:26-27)

"And [Mosiah] told them that ... the burden should come upon all the people, that every man might bear his part." (Mosiah 29:34)

"Therefore they relinquished their desires for a king, and became exceedingly anxious that every man should have an equal chance throughout all the land; yea, and every man expressed a willingness to answer for his own sins." (Mosiah 29:38)

The laws would apply equally to all - as all people were on the same equal, flawed plane in a fallen world. God's laws, which protect individuals from the selfishness of each other, would become the law of the land as overseen by the new judges.

"Therefore, it came to pass that they assembled themselves together in bodies throughout the land, to cast in their voices concerning who should be their judges, to judge them according to the law which had been given them; and they were exceedingly rejoiced because of the liberty which had been granted unto them." (Mosiah 29:39)

The people accepted the responsibility of answering for their own behavior under the law.

That's the only way liberty works. Freedom without morality isn't liberty; as Edmund Burke said, "It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.” (Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France)

The first American founding was 92 B.C. A group of pilgrims from the Old World, several hundred years after arriving, decided to form a government to largely govern themselves - to choose - as Hamilton suggested - to govern from their own intentional reflection and choice.

As the majority of humanity has been ruled by either accident or force, the second American founding nearly two millennia later posed the same bold question. This is the great American experiment - are men capable of governing themselves?

Two hundred forty years after that second founding, with civil unrest at a near-fevered pitch, the question almost mocks: can human beings rise to their highest capabilities and largely leave each other alone? Or must they always be micromanaged and told what to do?

Call me a cockeyed optimist - I like to believe Joseph Smith was right - correct principles make it possible for people to govern themselves and have a well-ordered society with peace, prosperity, and maximum freedom.

Mosiah 29 concludes at the dawn of an era where another group of humans are determined to try.