The setting for this book is in 1512 with the fall of Rome. The first chapter is titled "The kinds of principalities and the means by which they are acquired," because this is the first chapter and in order to understand the book you need to understand the most basic and most frequently used word. A principality is a type of government. These governments are hereditary meaning they are passed down from a previous family ruler or they are completely new. All dominions are acquired by fortune or by ability. All dominions also acquired are accustomed to being ruled by a prince or being free. I think this follows the lines of the United States a little. I see a connection with the fact that all dominions acquired, like the president acquiring the job, free or used to living under a prince. We also follow this because we are a free country. Machiavelli likes to write small chapters, which I like. They are easy to read and get straight to the point.
             This chapter is titled "hereditary principalities" because this chapter discusses what types of principalities there are and how hereditary principalities are ran. Machiavelli states that hereditary states are easier to rule when they are accustomed to family rule because it is sufficient if the prince doesn't abandon the methods of his ancestors and proves adaptable when unforeseen events occur. I interpret this will allow the citizens to gain trust in the new ruler. If a prince follows these procedures he will always keep his state unless an exceptional or very powerful force deprives him of it. In other words, a stronger ruler takes over his state. If the state is taken over, at the slightest mistake of the new ruler, the state will fall back into the hands of the original prince. Machiavelli used the example of the duke of Ferrara. He withstood assaults by the Venetians and by pope Julius in 1484-1510 because he had ruled for so long that the people fe...