No Treason · Chapter
Chapter XVI explained
The chapter argues that treaties made by U.S.
What happens
The chapter argues that treaties made by U.S. officials with foreign nations are invalid because neither the officials nor the foreign nations have legitimate authority from their respective peoples. It contends that there is no authentic evidence that the people of the United States authorized these officials, nor that foreign peoples authorized their rulers, making such treaties as fictitious as a treaty with the Man in the Moon.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This is the narrative climax because it delivers the emotional and psychological peak of the argument: the Con…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Consent and Voluntary Government
The chapter emphasizes that treaties lack validity because there is no open, written evidence of consent from the people.
- Secret Government and Secret Ballot
The argument implies that government officials operate without authentic, open authorization from the governed, akin to a secret government.
- Individual Natural Rights
The chapter asserts that individuals cannot be bound by treaties made without their personal, voluntary consent.
Characters to notice
- a man
The individual who is supposedly bound by treaties made without his consent.
- Unknown
The narrator or speaker presenting the argument.
- Congress
Implicitly referenced as the body that appoints ambassadors and senators.
- any member of Congress
Those who claim to act as agents for the people but lack authentic authorization.
Key passages
“On general principles of law and reason, the treaties, so called, which purport to be entered into with other nations, by certain persons calling themselves ambassadors, secretaries, presidents, and senators of the United States, in the name, and on behalf, of 'the people of the United States,' are of no validity.”
According to basic legal and rational principles, the so-called treaties made by U.S. officials claiming to represent the American people are completely invalid.
The author denies the legitimacy of treaties due to lack of proven authorization.
“Our pretended treaties, then, being made with no legitimate or bona fide nations, or representatives of nations, and being made, on our part, by persons who have no legitimate authority to act for us, have intrinsically no more validity than a pretended treaty made by the Man in the Moon with the king of the Pleiades.”
Thus, our supposed treaties are as meaningless as a fictional agreement between the Man in the Moon and the king of the Pleiades.
The author uses a hyperbolic analogy to emphasize the treaties' complete lack of legal force.
