No Treason
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No Treason is an 1867 essay by American individualist anarchist, political philosopher and legal theorist Lysander Spooner.
In this lengthy essay, Spooner argued that the United States Constitution was a contract of government (see: social contract theory) which had been irreparably violated during the American Civil War, and was thus void. Furthermore, since the government now existing under the Constitution pursued coercive policies that were contrary to the Natural Law and to the consent of the governed, it had been demonstrated that the document was unable to adequately stop many abuses against liberty or to prevent tyranny from taking hold. Spooner supported his argument by noting that the Federal government, as established by a legal contract, could not legally bind all persons living in the nation, since none had ever signed their names or given their consent to it - that consent had always been assumed, which fails the most basic burdens of proof for a valid contract in the courtroom.
