Lysander Spooner (1808-1887)
Lysander Spooner in 1887 (credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Nineteenth century thinker Lysander Spooner has been described as both a pioneer of right-wing libertarianism and left-wing socialism. Regardless of which ideological bucket he falls into, Spooner was, to put it mildly, an unorthodox political thinker.
Spooner was a man possessed by overweening confidence. In his time, Massachusetts law required college graduates to train with an attorney for three years before practicing. Spooner, who lacked both a college degree and reverence for authority, opened his own legal practice three years after training under prominent Massachusetts lawyers, politicians, and abolitionists. Openly defiant of the courts, Spooner railed against regulations that protected the rich at the poor’s expense for the rest of his life. He embarked on a legislative crusade to remove the requirement that attorneys have a college degree, publishing a petition in the Worcester Republican in 1835 and sending it to each member of the Massachusetts General Court. With allies in Massachusetts politics and in the legal system, Spooner’s crusade was successful—legislators voted down the restriction in the 1836 legislative session. This early foray into public activism established Spooner’s presence as a radical voice for the common man and paved the road for his later activities.
Spooner developed his views amid great political tension and turmoil in the United States. Though difficult to delimit, his political philosophy is best described as a blend between individualism and anarchism. His positions around natural rights and government’s purpose stood out at their inception and remain compelling today.
Spooner’s political ideology begins with his conception of natural rights as falling outside the realm of human creation or earthly government action. Moreover, Spooner argues that the validity of earthy governments depends on the existence of natural law. The individual owes loyalty to natural law and to natural law only. Spooner goes even further, arguing that no government has ever been just under the natural law tradition. Spooner also applied his natural law view to specific policies. He lambasted economic policies like usury bans and overregulation that hampered entrepreneurship and individual liberty.
Spooner’s anti-authoritarian conception of natural justice also had constitutional implications. Spooner writes that “the Constitution has no inherent authority or obligation.” He also categorically rejects the idea that the Constitution is a contract that binds generations of Americans to their government in perpetuity, a stance that led him to endorse Confederate secession despite his abolitionism.
Spooner argued that the act of voting was involuntary and merely self-defense against predation. Spooner uses quite harsh language to illustrate his point, arguing that “a man’s voting under the Constitution of the United States, is not to be taken as evidence that he ever freely assented to the Constitution, even for the time being.” Lysander viewed voting not as a means to exercise individual will and civic duties, but as a natural human response to encroachment and abuse under an illegitimate government.
Spooner's legacy endures, influencing modern libertarianism and contemporary thinking about the Constitution. While the excerpts above offer a glimpse into Spooner's philosophy, they don't encompass the full scope of his activities. Many libertarians today will tell the story of how Spooner began a private postal service that outcompeted the Post Office until Congress lowered its rates. His contributions to the abolitionist movement demonstrate a moral clarity well ahead of his time.
Spooner’s presence in America’s ideological fabric is a powerful reminder of the variety in American political thought. His radical anti-authoritarianism, while superficially absurd, highlights the contrast between his skepticism and the relative trust many contemporary Americans place in government institutions.
But Spooner’s ideas are also somewhat disconcerting. Though government abuse is real, Spooner’s ideology discounts the net societal benefit that free and stable governments create. One would be foolish to overlook the numerous moral failures and anti-liberty abuses present in Spoooner’s 19th century America, but they would be equally foolish to not recognize how far the United States has come since.
Experiments are inherently flawed– they require interested, invested, and careful parties to adjust and modulate their design as needed in pursuit of an ideal outcome. The American Experiment is no exception to this rule. Instead of following Spooner’s path, we must work together to improve our government under the Constitution’s authority to build an America of justice for all.
This piece is part of the Salvatori Center's Profiles in American Political Thought. You can find a complete list of those pieces here.
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