No Treason · Chapter
I explained
The chapter argues that the U.S.
What happens
The chapter argues that the U.S. Constitution was a voluntary compact among individuals, not states, and that with the death of the original signers, the contract died. It contends that the North's war against the South was not to preserve the Union or end slavery, but to enforce submission and prove that government rests on force, not consent. The author critiques the North's hypocrisy, the role of blood-money lenders like the Rothschilds, and the secret ballot as tools of a secret government of robbers and murderers.
Themes in this chapter
Consent and Voluntary Government
The Constitution is framed as a voluntary compact among individuals; without ongoing consent, the government becomes illegitimate.
Treason as Breach of Faith
The North's war against the South is characterized as treason against the original compact, and the government's expanded treason statute is criticized.
Characters to notice
- a man
The individual who voluntarily consented to the Constitution and whose consent died with him.
- Congress
Enacts treason statutes and presumes consent of the governed without actual consent.
- the Rothschilds
Blood-money lenders who seize control of the government and finance wars for profit.
- Benedict Arnold
Used as a comparison to highlight the treason of the North's actions.
- any member of Congress
Represents the government officials who act as agents of the secret government.
Key passages
“The Constitution was a compact of individuals, not states; and that compact died with the individuals who made it.”
The Constitution was an agreement among individual people, not among states, and that agreement ended when those individuals died.
Central argument that the Constitution's authority expired with its original signers.
“The North waged war, not to preserve the Union, not to abolish slavery, but to compel the South to submit to its authority.”
The North fought the war not to keep the country together or end slavery, but to force the South to obey its rule.
Reinterprets the Civil War as a war of coercion rather than liberation.
“The secret ballot creates a secret government, and a secret government is a government of robbers and murderers.”
Voting in secret leads to a hidden government, and a hidden government is essentially a criminal enterprise.
Critique of the secret ballot as enabling corruption and tyranny.