Anarchy has very ancient roots. It is not wholly essential to probe to the last hidden tendril altho such a probe can be highly instructive. What does appear to be a necessary minimal effort, however, is to explore at least the principal authors of anarchistic thought with the view to discovering what it was that motivated these men. We can begin with William Godwin of England. Godwin is noteworthy as the “father of anarchistic communism” (Encyclopaedia Britannica). In 1793 he published the first of several works on this subject entitled, “Inquiry Concerning Political Justice.” He is probably most famous as the author of an anarchistic novel which he named, “Caleb Williams.” It was Godwin’s thesis that governments are instruments of eternal bickering and war; that wars are fought over property; that the ownership of property privately is the greatest curse ever to beset the human race. As a specific example of tyranny in its worst form, Godwin suggests marriage. Before we lay the soubriquet “crackpot” behind his name, let us look at the England of Godwin’s time to try to find an explanation for his radical conclusions. In Godwin’s day (1756-1836) with only a few minor exceptions, all property was owned by the nobility, which is to say by the persons favored by government. The common people owned little save the shirts on their backs. As for marriage, women were chattels, given by a male parent to another male, during a governmentally approved ceremony. The idea of one person actually owning and controlling another, which we would call slavery, and which Godwin saw as the marriage state, was repellent to him. He insisted that females were human beings and as such had as much right to individuality as males. To cure the malady, which Godwin saw as ownership of property, the early Briton recommended an abolition of governments. It was the government which sanctified and protected property rights, even in marriage. To return to a state of nature (see Rousseau) governments would have to be abolished. Be it noted to Godwin’s credit that he despised violence. And in this position he is far removed from both the true communist and the anarchists of action who followed him. The next anarchist to be examined is Pierre Joseph Proudhon of Bexancon, France (1809-1865). Proudhon drank deeply from Godwin’s well and came forward with certain modifications and extensions of the Godwin doctrine. Proudhon acknowledged a debt of gratitude to both Plato and Thomas More, a pair of dedicated socialists (see Plato’s “Republic” and More’s “Utopia”) and busied himself with some practical means for implementing the socialist dream.