How Did They Survive the Oregon Trail?

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No one established a government to rule the wagon trains — it's true. But they governed themselves instead. They signed contracts that worked like voluntary constitutions. The contracts anticipated disputes among the various groups of travelers and laid out how to resolve them.

Imagine the red tape if the government had gone with the settlers. Marvel at the ability of people to innovate rules and order in a most unlikely setting. That's what Hill advises. Tune in to hear more.

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- Old West Violence Mostly Myth (article): Professor Hill explains that the true story is one of social cooperation.
- The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier (book review): Lee J. Alston discusses Hill and Terry Anderson's treatment of the role of property rights in the American West.
- Don't Circle the Wagons (book review): P.J. Hill reviews a recent book's argument that Native Americans and wagon trains saw tremendous gains from trade.
- The Culture of Violence in the American West: Myth versus Reality (article): Thomas DiLorenzo finds that the West was not so violent, except for where the U.S. government was involved.

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When a politician get a complaint from .1% of wagon trains, they go into 'do something' mode, mistaking a well working system for one that is having all sorts of problems and needs strong regulatory measures, even though it seems obvious to most other people that regulations are not required. It seems obvious, even as you have described it here.

beegum

Even a rabid statist would admit that your use of stop motion was great! More like this please.

Ozbrithian

Someone should do the Bundy Ranch in Lego. That would be cool.

ClawSpike

The biggest problem with government is the people make the rules and laws aren't usually the ones affected by them.

ShamanMcLamie

This is an incredible job by Zach.
Phenomenal animation and great scenes.

geth_sniper

Contracts in groups of 50 compared with a society of 100's of millions. Not so practical then.

ScottishAtheist

This is one of the best YouTube videos i have ever seen.

richardparks

That was really great. We loved the animations!

hodhomeschoolmama

Harmony and agreement is easy the fewer people's needs and desires have to be considered. To suggest that a wagon train of even a few hundred people is remotely like a nation is a ludicrous false equivalence.

And even with such limited scale democracy, the trains got wiped out, starved to death or fell into irreconcilable discord on more than one occasion.

Martial-Mat