Mosiah was the seer who translated the plates of gold which contained the record of the Jaredites. The history of this people, with their frequent civil wars, internal conflict and monarchial abuses, is still fresh in his mind. In verse 7, Mosiah describes what would happen if his sons began to fight over the throne in Zarahemla, and his description is taken from the experiences of the Jaredites as recorded in Ether 7-10.
B. H. Roberts
"The sons of Mosiah, who were heirs to the Nephite throne, were miraculously converted to the gospel, and so thoroughly imbued had they become with the importance of the work of the ministry of the Church that they abandoned their rights of succession to the kingly dignity, and departed from the land of Zarahemla to perform missions among the Lamanites. In consequence of the action of these young princes, Mosiah II was confronted with the problem of succession to the Nephite throne, since those to whom belonged the right refused to accept the honor. He feared that if another were appointed instead of one who had constitutional claims to the throne, there might arise contentions over the question of succession. 'And who knoweth,' said he, 'but what my son to whom the kingdom doth belong, shall turn to be angry, and draw part of this people after him, which would cause wars and contentions among you, which would be the cause of shedding much blood?' He therefore recommended the election of a chief judge or president of the theocratic-democracy, who would be possessed of both administrative and judicial powers, in the hope that such action, taken by the people themselves, would obviate all difficulty or question about the legitimacy of the government about to be established." (New Witnesses For God, vol. 2, p. 243)