No Treason · Chapter
II: The Constitution explained
This chapter argues that true treason requires a prior voluntary pledge of allegiance, and that the Southern states, having openly declared secession and given fair warning, were not traitors in fact under the Constitution.
What happens
This chapter argues that true treason requires a prior voluntary pledge of allegiance, and that the Southern states, having openly declared secession and given fair warning, were not traitors in fact under the Constitution. It critiques the presumption of consent by government, equating taxation without consent to robbery, and contends that both North and South have erred in imposing involuntary allegiance, leading to a war for chattel slavery on one side and political slavery on the other.
Themes in this chapter
Consent and Voluntary Government
Central theme: the Constitution derives authority from consent, and no one can be bound to support a government without their voluntary pledge.
Treason as Breach of Faith
Argues that treason requires treachery and breach of faith, not mere open opposition; Southern secession was open enmity, not treason.
Political Slavery
The war is described as fought on one side for chattel slavery and on the other for political slavery, with neither side fighting for liberty.
Taxation without Consent as Robbery
Directly states that taxation without consent is robbery, and a man has the same right to defend property against a tax-gatherer as against a highwayman.
Characters to notice
- a man
Discussed as an individual who can only be guilty of treason if he has voluntarily pledged faith to the government; his consent cannot be presumed.
- Benedict Arnold
Cited as the archetype of a traitor because he practiced injury while professing friendship, contrasting with the Southern states' open enmity.
- Congress
Implied as the body that enacted the treason statute expanding the constitutional definition, referenced in the context of government overreach.
- these men
Refers to the framers and administrators of the Constitution who are accused of swindling intentions and designing a government of the strong over the weak.
- any member of Congress
Mentioned indirectly in the critique of those who administered the government assuming the Constitution's written words were meaningless.
Key passages
“The Constitution certainly supposes that the crime of treason can be committed only by man, as an individual.”
The Constitution treats treason as a personal crime that only an individual can commit.
Emphasizes that collective guilt cannot be presumed; each person must individually pledge allegiance.
“Either 'taxation without consent is robbery,' or it is not.”
There is no middle ground: either taxation without consent is theft, or it is not.
Sets up a stark dichotomy to argue that government coercion is illegitimate without consent.
“Benedict Arnold was a traitor, solely because, while professing friendship for the American cause, he attempted to injure it.”
Arnold's treason lay in his hypocrisy—pretending to be a friend while working to harm the cause.
Used to contrast with the Southern states, who openly declared their opposition and thus were not traitors.
“The result—and a natural one—has been that we have had governments, State and national, devoted to nearly every grade and species of crime that governments have ever practised upon their victims; and these crimes have culminated in a war that has cost a million of lives.”
The inevitable outcome was that both state and federal governments engaged in all kinds of crimes, leading to a war that killed a million people.
Condemns both sides for perpetuating oppression and war, rather than upholding liberty.
