With the famous phrase, "Man is born free; but everywhere he is in chains," Rousseau asserts that these "chains" are the constraints placed on the freedom of citizens in modern states. These modern states repress the physical freedom that is our birthright, and do nothing to secure the civil freedom for the sake of which we enter into civil society. Legitimate political authority comes only from a social contract agreed upon by all citizens for their mutual preservation.
In the succeeding excerpts Rousseau defines legitimate force. "A brigand surprises me at the edge of a wood: must I not merely surrender my purse on compulsion: but even if I could withhold it am I conscience bound to give it up? For certainly the pistol he holds is also a power." In this quote the brigand is the force and "to yield to force is an act of necessity, not of will", but because "we are obligated to obey only legitimate powers" he is not "obligated" to give up. Now conversely the pistol is a greater force, which may be a "legitimate power", and surrendering is in his discretion a matter of "necessity" which could in turn be life or death.
The following quote describes Rousseau's point of view on the so-called right of slavery. "Since no man has a natural authority over his fellow, and force creates no right, we must conclude that conventions form the basis of all legitimate authority among men." Since slaves are first made slaves by force and force creates no right, the slave is willingly becoming a slave. I use the term willingly because they have the born right to be free and no other man has the natural authority over them. On the other hand the government has taken power over the people and giving them the right to have slaves.
"Nothing can be more certain than that every man born in slavery is born for slavery." You could say that men born in slavery are born neither free nor equal. Men born of slaves are born for one intention and one intention only, to become a slave.
