Articles
Lysander & Limited Government, by Fred Miller,
Reason, May 1976
Argues that Spooner, although critical of the government instituted by the U.S. Constitution, was in favor of a legitimate, limited government, i.e., one that is voluntarily financed
"No Treason #6" is referred to, in hushed tones, as though it were a definitive treatise of anarchocapitalism. In fact, careful reading reveals that [it] is far from an argument for anarchism ... [A] popular Lysander Spooner poster ... begins, "For this reason, whoever desires liberty, should understand these facts ..." The poster only lists the first two of six ... But the fact relevant here is the last: "That no government, so called, can reasonably be trusted for a moment, or reasonably be supposed to have honest purposes in view, any longer than it depends wholly upon voluntary support".
Lysander Spooner on the National Debt, by
Sheldon Richman,
Future of Freedom, Jan 2014
Revised version of "The Goal Is Freedom" column of 27 Sep 2013; analyzes Spooner's severe criticisms of the arguments given for the legitimacy of the United States' public debt
It so happens that in section XVII of his 1870 essay, "The Constitution of No Authority" (Number 6 in his No Treason series), Spooner took up the question of government debt with his signature fresh look. As you might imagine, he left nothing standing. "On general principles of law and reason," Spooner wrote, "debts contracted in the name of 'the United States,' or of 'the people of the United States,' are of no validity." ... Earlier in the essay, Spooner handily disposed of the claim that voting or paying taxes implies consent.
Lysander Spooner, Part 2, by
Wendy McElroy,
Freedom Daily, Nov 2005
Lengthy biographical and bibliographical essay; this second part is from 1852 to Spooner's death, examining
An Essay on the Trial by Jury, the
No Treason essays and his subsequent influence
The first No Treason—subtitled The Suppression of the Rebellion Finally Disposes of the Pretence That the United States Government Rests on Consent—was intended as the first of six pamphlets. But only two more appeared ... In introducing VI, Spooner noted that Nos. III, IV, and V did not exist but he did not explain their absence ... Why was the series entitled No Treason? No. II repeats the only definition of that word offered by the Constitution ... Spooner concludes that the definition should be interpreted "like all other criminal laws, in the sense most favorable to liberty and justice."
