“There is not, in the Constitution, a syllable that implies that persons, born within the territorial limits of the United States, have allegiance imposed upon them on account of their birth in the country, or that they will be judged by any different rule, on the subject of treason, than persons of foreign birth.”

American abolitionist, lawyer, and political philosopher

Lysander Spooner was an American abolitionist, entrepreneur, lawyer, essayist, legal theorist, pamphleteer, political philosopher, and writer. He is often associated with the Boston anarchist tradition. Spooner wrote on natural rights and law, and his work placed him among the notable American radical thinkers of the 19th century. He is remembered for his arguments against slavery and for writing in forms that were meant to reach a broad political audience, including essays and pamphlets.