The rule of law created security of property and contract, which is in turn led to industrialization and modern capitalism. For the first time in the history of the species, a system grew up that, on the whole, rewarded production better than predation. That system proved to be highly adaptable. It was taken across the oceans by English-speakers, sometimes imposed by colonial administrators, sometimes carried by patriotic settlers. In old courthouse in Philadelphia, it was distilled into its purest and most sublime form as the U.S. Constitution.