The question of treason is distinct from that of slavery; and is the same that it would have been, if free States, instead of slave States, had seceded. On the part of the North, the war was carried o...

Notwithstanding all the proclamations we have made to mankind, within the last ninety years, that our government rested on consent, and that that was the only rightful basis on which any government co...

Notwithstanding all the proclamations we have made to mankind, within the last ninety years, that our government rested on consent, and that that was the only rightful basis on which any government co...

What, then, is implied in a government’s resting on consent? If it be said that the consent of the strongest party in a nation, is all that is necessary to justify the establishment of a government th...

But to say that the consent of either the strongest party, or the most numerous party, in a nation, is a sufficient justification for the establishment or maintenance of a government that shall contro...

The question, then, returns, What is implied in a government’s resting on consent? Manifestly this one thing (to say nothing of others) is necessarily implied in the idea of a government’s resting on ...

The Constitution says: “We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general ...

The Constitution says: “We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general ...

The Constitution says: “Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.” This is the only definition of ...

The Constitution does not say who will become traitors, by “levying war against the United States, or adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.” It is, therefore, only by inference, or r...

The Constitution certainly supposes that the crime of treason can be committed only by man, as an individual. It would be very curious to see a man indicted, convicted, or hanged, otherwise than as an...

It is plain, therefore, that if, when the Constitution says treason, it means treason⁠—treason in fact, and nothing else⁠—there is no ground at all for pretending that the Southern people have committ...

One essential of a free government is that it rest wholly on voluntary support. And one certain proof that a government is not free, is that it coerces more or less persons to support it, against thei...

No middle ground is possible on this subject. Either “taxation without consent is robbery,” or it is not. If it is not, then any number of men, who choose, may at any time associate; call themselves a...

It is perhaps unnecessary to say that the principles of this argument are as applicable to the State governments, as to the national one. The opinions of the South, on the subjects of allegiance and t...

Obviously there can be no law of treason more stringent than has now been stated, consistently with political liberty. In the very nature of things there can never be any liberty for the weaker party,...

The practical difficulty with our government has been, that most of those who have administered it, have taken it for granted that the Constitution, as it is written was a thing of no importance; that...

No attempt or pretence, that was ever carried into practical operation amongst civilized men⁠—unless possibly the pretence of a “Divine Right,” on the part of some, to govern and enslave others⁠—embod...

The first and second numbers of this series were published in 1867. For reasons not necessary to be explained, the sixth is now published in advance of the third, fourth and fifth. The Constitution ha...

The Constitution has no inherent authority or obligation. It has no authority or obligation at all, unless as a contract between man and man. And it does not so much as even purport to be a contract b...

Let us consider these two matters, voting and tax paying, separately. And first of voting. All the voting that has ever taken place under the Constitution, has been of such a kind that it not only did...

The payment of taxes, being compulsory, of course furnishes no evidence that anyone voluntarily supports the Constitution. It is true that the theory of our Constitution is, that all taxes are paid vo...

The Constitution not only binds nobody now, but it never did bind anybody. It never bound anybody, because it was never agreed to by anybody in such a manner as to make it, on general principles of la...

As further evidence of the general sense of mankind, as to the practical necessity there is that all men’s important contracts, especially those of a permanent nature, should be both written and signe...

It is no exaggeration, but a literal truth, to say that, by the Constitution⁠—not as I interpret it, but as it is interpreted by those who pretend to administer it⁠—the properties, liberties, and live...

It is plain, then, that on general principles of law and reason⁠—such principles as we all act upon in courts of justice and in common life⁠—the Constitution is no contract; that it binds nobody, and ...

The Constitution itself, then, being of no authority, on what authority does our government practically rest? On what ground can those who pretend to administer it, claim the right to seize men’s prop...

What is the motive to the secret ballot? This, and only this: Like other confederates in crime, those who use it are not friends, but enemies; and they are afraid to be known, and to have their indivi...

It is obvious that, on general principles of law and reason, there exists no such thing as a government created by, or resting upon, any consent, compact, or agreement of “the people of the United Sta...

On general principles of law and reason, the oaths which these pretended agents of the people take “to support the Constitution,” are of no validity or obligation. And why? For this, if for no other r...

For the same reasons, the oaths of all the other pretended agents of this secret band of robbers and murderers are, on general principles of law and reason, equally destitute of obligation. They are g...

On general principles of law and reason, the oaths which foreigners take, on coming here, and being “naturalized” (as it is called), are of no validity. They are necessarily given to nobody; because t...

On general principles of law and reason, all the oaths which, since the war, have been given by Southern men, that they will obey the laws of Congress, support the Union, and the like, are of no valid...

On general principles of law and reason, the oaths of soldiers, that they will serve a given number of years, that they will obey the orders of their superior officers, that they will bear true allegi...

On general principles of law and reason, the treaties, so called, which purport to be entered into with other nations, by certain persons calling themselves ambassadors, secretaries, presidents, and s...

On general principles of law and reason, debts contracted in the name of “the United States,” or of “the people of the United States,” are of no validity. It is utterly absurd to pretend that debts to...

The Constitution having never been signed by anybody; and there being no other open, written, or authentic contract between any parties whatever, by virtue of which the United States government, so ca...

Now, what is true in Europe, is substantially true in this country. The difference is the immaterial one, that, in this country, there is no visible, permanent head, or chief, of these robbers and mur...

Inasmuch as the Constitution was never signed, nor agreed to, by anybody, as a contract, and therefore never bound anybody, and is now binding upon nobody; and is, moreover, such an one as no people c...

See Essay II. ↩ Suppose it be “the best government on earth,” does that prove its own goodness, or only the badness of all other governments? ↩ The very men who drafted it, never signed it in any way ...