Lysander Spooner's "No Treason" series, published in three volumes, is intended to address the question of whether it was treason for Southern States to secede from the United States, and how this differed from the colonies seceding from Great Britain. But along the way he touches on other important questions such as: What is meant by consent of the governed? By what right did a few men who have now passed on have to bind future generations to a government? Does voting or paying taxes imply consent to be governed? How can all the people of the United States be bound to a government when (at the time) only a small number of adult white males with property were allowed to vote? Even if you do not agree with his conclusions, the questions and discussion are thought provoking.
