Lysander Spooner

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Lysander Spooner
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Lysander Spooner (born January 19, 1808 in Athol , Massachusetts, † May 14, 1887 in Boston ) was a legal philosopher and entrepreneur .

He was an important exponent of 19th century American individualistic anarchism and an opponent of slavery . His most important works are The Unconstitutionality of Slavery and No Treason. The Constitution of No Authority . The work of Lysander Spooner continues to have a significant influence on modern libertarianism .

Career

Spooner studied law under renowned lawyers John Davis and Charles Allen without ever going to college. Thus, practicing as a lawyer was illegal under Massachusetts law, which required five years of attorney or college diploma. He defied the law, opened a law firm and spoke out repeatedly against professional protectionism in all industries, which he saw as protecting the rich from competition from the poor. He rejected licenses and restrictions of certain professions as a violation of the freedom of contract.

In 1844 Spooner founded the American Letter Mail Company, which operated in direct competition with the US Postal Service , which is protected by the letter monopoly . The American Letter Mail Company offered nationwide mailing of mail at only 6¼ cents per half ounce , cheaper than the US Postal Service. The legal dispute due to the current letter monopoly forced Spooner to close his company in 1851.

Works

  • The Deist's Immortality, and An Essay On Man's Acountability For His Belief (1834)
  • "To the Members of the Legislature of Massachusetts" (1835)
  • The Deist's Reply to the Alleged Supernatural Evidences of Christianity (1836)
  • Constitutional Law, Relative to Credit, Currency, and Banking (1843)
  • The Unconstitutionality of the Laws of Congress, Prohibiting Private Mails (1844)
  • The Unconstitutionality of Slavery (1845, 1860)
  • Poverty: Its Illegal Causes, and Legal Cure. Part I (1846)
  • Who caused the Reduction of Postage? Ought He To Be Paid? (1850)
  • Illegality of the Trial of John W. Webster (1850)
  • A Defense for Fugitive Slaves, Against the Acts of Congress of February 12, 1793, & September 18, 1850 (1850)
  • An Essay on the Trial by Jury (1852)
  • The Law of Intellectual Property (1855)
  • A Plan for The Abolition of Slavery (and) To The Non-Slaveholders of the South (1858)
  • Address of the Free Constitutionalists to the People of the United States (1860)
  • A New System of Paper Currency (1861)
  • Our Mechanical Industry, As Affected By Our Present Currency System: An Argument for the Author's New System of Paper Currency (1862)
  • Articles of Association of the Spooner Copyright Company for Massachusetts (1863)
  • Letter To Charles Sumner (1864)
  • Considerations for Bankers, and Holders of United States Bonds (1864)
  • No Treason. No. I (1867)
  • No Treason. No. II, The Constitution (1867)
  • No Treason. No. VI, The Constitution of No Authority (1870)
  • Vices Are Not Crimes: A vindication of Moral Liberty (1875)
  • Our Financiers: Their Ignorance, Usurpations, and Frauds (1877)
  • The Law of Prices: A Demonstration of The Necessity for an Indefinite Increase of Money (1877)
  • Gold and Silver as Standards of Value: The Flagrant Cheat in Regard to Them (1878)
  • Universal Wealth Shown to be Easily Attainable. Part First (1879)
  • Revolution: The Only Remedy for the Oppresed Classes of Ireland, England, and Other Parts of the British Empire. No. 1 (1880)
  • Natural law; or The Science of Justice: A Treatise on Natural Law, Natural Justice, Natural Rights, Natural Liberty, and Natural Society; Showing That All Legislation Whatsoever Is An Absurdity, A Usurpation, and A Crime. Part First (1882)
  • A Letter to Thomas F. Bayard: Challenging His Right - And that of All the Other So-Called Senators and Representative in Congress - To Exercise Any Legislative Power Whatever Over the People of the United States (1882)
  • A Letter to Scientists and Inventors, on the Science of Justice, and Their Right of Perpetual Property in Their Disclosures and Inventions (1884)
  • A Letter to Grover Cleveland, on His False Inaugural Addrewss, The Usurpations and Crimes of Lawmakers and Judges, and the Consequent Poverty, Ignorance, and Servitude of the People (1886)

literature

  • Ronald Creagh: L'Anarchisme aux États-Unis 1826-1896. Series: Études anglo-américaines. Klincksieck, Paris 1983 ISBN 2864600234 . To Spooner especially chap. 4: Un adversaire des pouvoirs publics américains: LS , pp. 147–182 (available in online bookshops)

Web links

Commons : Lysander Spooner  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John McKivigan: Abolitionism and American Law. Pp. 66-67
  2. ↑ Lucille J. Goodyear: Spooner vs. US Postal System. American Legion Magazine , January 1981
personal data
SURNAME Spooner, Lysander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Anarchist, lawyer, philosopher and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH January 19, 1808
PLACE OF BIRTH Athol (Massachusetts)
DATE OF DEATH May 14, 1887
Place of death Boston