Saturday, November 28, 2009

Start of Institutions By: Ashley Smith

The Neolithic Period, known as The New Stone Age, was the "beginning of historic time". The people from this time went from being hunters and gatherers to having an agricultural society. This point in time was the start of institutions. An Institution is "an organization created on a permanant basis to full-fill a group need." The three main, and most important institutions are the family, the religion, and the state.
1. Family: The family is what helps everyone survive through the toughest times, by teaching survival skills. Family teaches how to run a farm, and this farm will be passed down from generation to generation. They are also a very big support system, the elderly in the family not only pass down survival skills, but life lessons they have learned and their experiences they went through to help their family live a genuinely happy life.
2. State: The state is put in place for a legal system. The states makes up the IRS, army, and even the police. The state provided social control, by enforcing laws. The state was also in control of the food supply so everyone would be fed.
3. Religion: The religion is what ties the other two institutions together. When the state was not there answering questions and solving problems that the civilization would have, they asked their god. They looked to god for "answers to spiritual and worldly problems" as a family.

Lawrence, Davis "Origins of Civilization"

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