Years went by.  The villagers learned how to make other things.  They made clothes out of the animal skins to keep them warm.  One man learned that he could cut down his trees with a knife and make houses.  There were a lot of things to trade.  People lived far apart.  They moved out of the cave, they lived in their own houses.  Only the village leader remained in the cave.  Some people gave him some of their spare food, saying “If you died we would be sad.  Have some of our food.”

“It’s about time somebody did the right thing,” said the leader.

The villagers had moved far away from each other.  They did not necessarily sit at the campfire and talk a lot any more.  They grew apart.  They started spending more time with the people closest to them.  One of the villagers was named Atilla.  He did not like working.  He could not build houses, or make spears, or sew clothes, or grow fruit trees.  He was a good hunter, but also had a ravenous appetite.  He ate more than he killed.  He decided he needed more.  He talked to the villagers around him.  “We will take our spears,” he said, “and we will kill a lot of the other villagers.  The ones we don’t kill, we’ll make them work for us.  We will have lots of food and have to do no work.”

Many of the villagers thought this was a good idea.   Attila and his people killed a lot of other people.  They took people captive, they made those people work for them.  They lived without working.  They had plenty of food.  They all had houses.  They had the best clothes.  They took whatever they wanted.

The captured villagers were very angry.  “We shouldn’t have to work for both ourselves and other people,” they said.  “We deserve to keep the food we make.  John agreed.  “We will not work for them anymore!” he said.  “We will stop working, and we will take our spears, and we will kill them!”

Some of the captured villagers agreed.  A lot of others were afraid of Attila.  Some said it wasn’t so bad living with him.  He told everyone what to do all the time.  Nobody ever had to worry about what they should be doing.

John took the villagers who agreed, and he led a revolt.  He killed many of Attila’s men.  Many of his men died.  It was a difficult fight.  Eventually, though, Attila’s men grew weak from lack of food, and John’s men won.

“We need to make sure that nobody ever tries to kill us like that again,” John said.  “We need to make a government to protect us from having our things taken from us.  And we should all be allowed to decide who’s in charge of it.  And that government will make sure that nobody kills us or takes our things.”

A man named George Washington, who had helped John win the fight, was elected to form and lead the government.  He decided that all of the villagers had to give a little of whatever they made to the government, to feed and clothe and house the people who he hired to keep them safe.  One of the villagers said to him, “You can take away our food and our clothes and our tools, and our houses.  You trained a group of people who can kill us if we refuse to give you what you want.  You are now the most powerful man in the village!”

George laughed.  “No.  I’m not the most powerful man in the village.  Every person who makes something is more powerful than me, because without the clothes, or the houses, or the food, or the tools, I would have nothing to take.  If I killed you all, I would die.”

“George!” yelled the village leader, now very weak.  “You can save me.  You can force people to give me some of their food.  If you don’t I will die.  I’m begging you, please!”

George became very angry.  “It’s my job to protect their food!  I can’t steal it from them to give it to you just because you refuse to work!”

Several days later, the village leader died.