See https://www.getwisdom.com/lysander-spooner-channeled-by-karl-mollison-04nov2021/
from https://ammo.com/articles/lysander-spooner-first-
private-post-office-anarchism-forgotten-history
by Sam Jacobs
Lysander Spooner January 19, 1808 – May 14, 1887 is an important – and not exactly obscure –
figure in the history of the liberty movement. He’s an idiosyncratic figure from the 19th
century with no small cheerleading section in the 21st century. A bit of a throwback to a
very different time, Spooner was a champion of the labor movement and was even a member of
the First International at a time when socialists and anarchists coexisted peacefully within
that movement.
Perhaps one of the most interesting things about Spooner is that he ran a private company
in direct competition with the United States Post Office. This endeavor predictably failed
not because the American Letter Mail Company couldn’t compete, but because Spooner was
hamstrung by lawfare.
Spooner was born in Athol, MA, in 1808, a descendant of Mayflower pilgrims and the second
of nine children. His career as a lawyer set the template for the rest of his life’s work:
Spooner had studied under a number of prominent lawyers (a practice known as “reading law,”
which was much more common at the time). However, he did not have a degree and state law
required that he study further under a lawyer. He considered this legal discimination and
went ahead and started practicing law anyway.
In 1836, the state legislature got rid of the requirement. Indeed, Spooner was against any
legal requirement for licensure of any profession, something that would come up again later
on in his battle against the United States Post Office. This was part of Spooner’s belief
in a natural law, whereby any act of coercion was ipso facto illegal.
Where Spooner primarily came to public attention was as an abolitionist. In 1845, he published
a book called The Unconstitutionality of Slavery, in which he argued that the United States
Constitution prohibited slavery. Part of his argument was predicated upon his belief that all
unjust laws were unconstitutional and could be struck down by judges. His arguments were cited
in the party platform of the Liberty Party and were cited by Fredrick Douglass as changing his
mind on the subject.
From the publication of this book up to 1861, Spooner was a tireless campaigner against slavery.
He drafted works on jury nullification and other ways for private citizens to fight it. He
frequently provided legal counsel for runaway slaves gratis. Pro-slavery Mississippi Senator
Albert G. Brown believed that Spooner provided the strongest legal challenge to slavery, of
which he was aware.
Spooner also advocated for guerilla warfare and other forms of violence to stop slavery in the
United States. However, he also opposed the United States using force to keep the Confederate
States in the Union. His view was that the same natural law making it right and just
