A tireless champion for libertarian causes, during his long life (he died in 1887) Spooner used his logical mindset and his legal skills (he did not receive formal education until, at the age of 25, he left the family farm and moved to Worcester to study law as an apprentice in the offices of John Davis and Charles Allen) to challenge governmental actions; most of the things about which he wrote – from the postal monopoly, to intellectual property regulations, and slavery – were labeled by him as unconstitutional.
On his birthday, in 1846, Spooner wrote to George Bradburn, his closest acquaintance and fellow abolitionist (readers might be interested to note that I used to refer to Bradburn as Spooner closest “friend”; in recent months, my research using the papers of Gerrit Smith (the wealthy abolitionist and philanthropist from central upstate New York) at Syracuse University has shown me that Bradburn might outwardly have given Spooner the impression that they were close friends, but in reality Bradburn had far more in common with, and felt closer to abolitionists who, unlike Spooner, did not disdain the use of political institutions to facilitate antislavery goals). On January 19, 1846, Spooner wrote the following to Bradburn:
Dear Bradburn,
As you do not see sufficient encouragement for starting “the Constitutionalist,” and do not fancy a Constitutional Party, I have suggested, in the accompanying letter and petition, another mode of setting the constitutional ball in motion, one which I hope you will approve, and if so, aid in carrying into effect.
I write a separate letter on that subject, because you may possibly wish to show it to some one and in this I wish to say a word on another matter for your own eye only…I hope you did not think I would change the name of the Liberty Party to conceal our “sympathy for the niggers”—but only to assert, in their behalf, the principles of the instrument, which our governments are all sworn to carry out, and which the people all acknowledge they must abide by.
If you do not think best, or do not feel inclined to do any thing with the petition, let it go—
Yours sincerely
Lysander Spooner
This reflects Spooner’s vehement objection to arguments (in this case, those made by the Liberty Party) that parts of the Constitution were pro-slavery and needed excising--in 1844, the Liberty Party included in its platform a call to repeal the fugitive slave clause. Spooner believed that this was no advance on the arguments, prevalent in the 1830s, that the Constitution either sanctioned, recognized, or permitted slavery.
This was what led him to campaign Bradburn for a change in the Liberty Party’s name. As he had written a few weeks earlier, “Free Constitutionalist Party” would demonstrate that the party was “appealing to a standard” that championed liberty and justice for all, a standard “which all acknowledge to be imperative both upon legislatures and courts.”
As we today celebrate Spooner’s birthday, these are valuable observations to keep in mind, as is the plea that Spooner made two years later…for things (he wrote of abolishing slavery, but the sentiment has broader applicability) to be settled using “light, and not heat.”
Happy Birthday Spooner!
My published work about Spooner’s legal theories can be found here and over at my website. Those interested in Spooner are also encouraged to visit the Lysander Spooner website maintained by law professor Randy Barnett.
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