# IV explained — No Treason > Chapter companion for No Treason by Lysander Spooner. ## What happens The chapter argues that a government resting on consent requires the separate, individual consent of every person who contributes to its support, and that the American Revolution established this principle as a universal right. It contends that without such consent, no one can be guilty of treason, as they have broken no faith. The author extends this logic to assert that the Constitution itself must rest on voluntary consent or be illegitimate. ## Themes in this chapter ### Consent and Voluntary Government The chapter insists that legitimate government requires the separate, individual consent of every person subject to it, and that the Revolution established this as a universal principle. ### Treason as Breach of Faith Argues that without prior consent, there can be no breach of faith, and thus revolutionaries are not traitors; treason implies a broken pledge. ### Individual Natural Rights Emphasizes that each person has a natural right to withdraw from government at their discretion, as exercised by the revolutionaries. ## Character check-ins ### a man Used as a generic individual to illustrate the necessity of individual consent and the right to withdraw from government. ### Unknown The narrator or authorial voice presenting the argument. ### these men Refers to the American revolutionaries who acted as individuals, not as governments. ### any member of Congress Implied in the discussion of constitutional authorities and representatives at Philadelphia. ### Congress Referenced indirectly as the body that declared independence, acting as revolutionists. ### Benedict Arnold Not directly mentioned, but the concept of treason is central; Arnold is a canonical figure associated with betrayal. ## Key lines > the separate, individual consent of every man who is required to contribute, either by taxation or personal service, to the support of the government. Each person who is taxed or forced to serve must personally agree to the government's authority. _Core definition of consent in the chapter._ > if a man has never consented or agreed to support a government, he breaks no faith in refusing to support it. Without prior agreement, refusing to support a government is not a betrayal. _Links consent to the absence of treason._ > The whole Revolution, therefore, as a Revolution, was declared and accomplished by the people, acting separately as individuals, and exercising each his natural rights, and not by their governments in the exercise of their constitutional powers. The Revolution was a collection of individual acts, not an act of the colonial governments. _Emphasizes individual agency over governmental authority._ > He had the same natural right to take up arms alone to defend his own property against a single tax-gatherer, that he had to take up arms in company with three millions of others. The right to resist government force applies equally to one person as to a multitude. _Universal application of the right of resistance._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/no_treason_se/chapters/iv - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/no_treason_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/no_treason_se/chapters