Full Idea
The act by which people become 'a people' is the real foundation of society.
Gist of Idea
The act of becoming 'a people' is the real foundation of society
Source
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (The Social Contract (tr Cress) [1762], I.5)
Book Reference
Rousseau,Jean-Jacques: 'The Social Contract', ed/tr. Cranston,Maurice [Penguin 1972], p.59
A Reaction
The difficulty with many older countries is that it is impossible to identify such an act. Mythologies are created to fictionalise such acts; in Britain we refer back to King Alfred, and to Magna Carta. I suspect 1660 is the key year.