In the early 17th century, political philosopher Thomas Hobbes was employed as a tutor and secretary to the wealthy Cavendish family, the Earls of Devonshire. Through this connection, Hobbes became deeply involved in the corporate affairs of the Virginia Company and its offshoot, the Somers Isles Company, which managed English colonization efforts in Bermuda and Virginia. In 1613, a contentious legal feud emerged regarding land allocations and speculative shares in these transatlantic ventures.
Hobbes held shares in the company and actively participated in board meetings, navigating disputes over territorial boundaries, shareholder voting rights, and land redistribution schemes in the New World. The conflict centered around the speculative valuation of colonial land grants that had not yet been surveyed or secured. When financial disputes arose between investors over missing dividends and dubious accounting practices, legal actions were launched to determine corporate accountability.
For Hobbes, this legal battle served as a real-world laboratory for observing human behavior in conditions of economic anxiety and legal ambiguity. The experience of watching wealthy patrons, merchants, and venture capitalists maneuver for self-preservation directly influenced his mature political thought. Historians note that the chaotic governance and contractual disputes of the Virginia Company highlighted the necessity of a centralized authority to enforce contracts and maintain order—a concept that became the cornerstone of his seminal 1651 political treatise, Leviathan.
Thus, a forgotten lawsuit over island real estate helped lay the philosophical groundwork for modern social contract theory.