# Constitution as Dead Contract in No Treason

> Theme guide for No Treason by Lysander Spooner.

The book contends that the Constitution was a contract only among the founding generation, which cannot bind posterity, and that no living person has voluntarily consented to it through voting or taxation.

## Where it surfaces

- [No Treason](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/chapters/no-treason): Argues that the Constitution, as a contract among individuals, died with the original signers, and thus cannot bind later generations.
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/chapters/i): The chapter contends that the original signers could not bind future generations, and that the Constitution has no binding force on those who never consented.
- [Chapter III: Treason, Allegiance, and the Constitution](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/chapters/iii): Implied critique: if consent is the foundation, then the Constitution's authority may lapse when original signers die.
- [The Treason Swindle and the War for Slavery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/chapters/x): The Constitution is treated as a meaningless document, written by swindlers, and its written provisions are ignored in favor of fraudulent intentions.
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/chapters/i): The central argument: the Constitution died with its original signers and cannot bind the living.
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/chapters/iv): The chapter argues the Constitution never bound anyone because it was never signed or delivered, making it a dead letter as a contract.
- [Chapter V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/chapters/v): The Constitution is portrayed as an unsigned, unwitnessed document that cannot legally bind anyone, akin to waste paper.
- [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/chapters/vii): The Constitution is argued to be no contract at all, binding nobody, because it was never signed by the people.
- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/chapters/ii): The Constitution is described as a paper drawn up eighty years ago, never signed by anybody, and having no obligation as a contract.
- [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/chapters/xv): The argument that the United States is not a legitimate corporation or nation implies that the constitutional compact is void, and thus oaths to it are meaningless.
- [Appendix](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/chapters/appendix): The Constitution is described as never having been a binding contract and now unfit to exist.
- [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/chapters/endnotes): The endnotes argue that the Constitution was never signed as a binding contract by its drafters, and thus cannot be considered a valid contract.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/themes/constitution_as_dead_contract
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/no_treason_se/themes