Character guide

a man

major

Also known as a man, your, himself

He stands in for any person asked to prove he has bound himself to a government he never personally agreed to obey. His central tension is between the safety of silent compliance and the dangerous honesty of withholding consent, since Spooner insists no man may be injured in person or property without his own agreement. That refusal becomes the hinge on which the book's case for liberty turns.

Unknown

major

Also known as myself

This shadowy first-person presence speaks as 'myself,' the ordinary individual whose rights are weighed against the state's demands. The tension is intimate: can anyone be bound to obey a power he never personally authorized, or must every man be left free to consent or refuse without injury? That question drives the early argument and gives the abstract law of treason a human face.

these men

supporting

Also known as their, themselves

They are the many whose contracts, friendships, and wars supply Spooner's examples, from Benedict Arnold's betrayal to the open enmity of the Southern people. Their defining tension is between professed loyalty and declared hostility, since a man who gives fair warning before turning enemy is no traitor at all. Their conduct anchors the book's early effort to strip treason of its false, kingly meanings.

any member of Congress

minor

Also known as any member of Congress

A generic congressional figure used as a rhetorical target.

Congress

supporting

Also known as their

As the institutional voice of the United States, Congress stands opposite the individual whose consent Spooner says must be personal and voluntary. The tension lies in whether a government can define and punish treason without first proving that the accused ever bound himself to obey it. That unresolved conflict shapes the book's early challenge to political authority and sets up its case for liberty.

the Rothschilds

minor

Also known as the Rothschilds, their

The Rothschild banking family, referenced as a powerful entity.

D

minor

A recurring pronoun-based referent, possibly a character or placeholder.

Knaves

minor

Also known as their

A group labeled as knaves, likely a rhetorical collective.

Mr. B

minor

Also known as B, Mr. B

A named individual, possibly a historical or fictional figure.

Benedict Arnold

minor

Also known as Benedict Arnold

Historical figure mentioned as a traitorous example.