Project Gutenberg 2011-05-17 Public domain in the USA. 126 Spooner, Lysander 1808 1887 A Letter to Thomas F. Bayard Produced by Katie Hernandez, Susan Goble, Curtis Weyant and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net "A Letter to Thomas F. Bayard" by Lysander Spooner is a critical political treatise written during the late 19th century. This book challenges the legitimacy of congressional power over the citizens of the United States, arguing that the legislators' authority is a usurpation rather than a legitimate delegation of power by the people. Spooner confronts the notion that it is possible for a legislator to exercise authority honestly under the existing constitutional framework. In this letter, Spooner systematically dissects the concept of delegated legislative power, claiming that no individual can rightfully assign arbitrary dominion over themselves or others. He contends that the U.S. Constitution was enacted without genuine consent from the populace and serves primarily to empower a select group of individuals to enact laws that infringe upon the natural rights of citizens. Spooner urges Senator Bayard to recognize the absurdity of the legislative system, encouraging him to acknowledge that no law created under such arbitrary authority can be considered just. Ultimately, the letter serves as a call for reflection on the nature of government and individual rights, inviting readers to reconsider the foundations of authority in their society. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 44.4 (College-level). Difficult to read. en Legislative power -- United States KF Text Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches Category: American Literature Category: Philosophy & Ethics Category: Politics 44165 2025-09-14T15:19:46.967913 text/html 40537 2021-01-07T18:41:02 text/html 88497 2025-09-14T15:19:51.321896 application/epub+zip 87155 2025-09-14T15:19:49.410917 application/epub+zip 69930 2025-09-14T15:19:48.425978 application/epub+zip 179140 2025-09-14T15:19:52.735884 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 171812 2025-09-14T15:19:50.754009 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 134707 2022-09-16T13:49:23.622546 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 38087 2025-09-14T15:19:46.752931 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 37871 2021-01-07T18:41:02 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 18769 2025-09-14T15:19:52.850888 application/rdf+xml 13396 2025-09-14T15:19:48.903919 image/jpeg 3371 2025-09-14T15:19:48.662923 image/jpeg 14539 2021-01-07T18:41:02 application/octet-stream application/zip 13447 2021-01-07T18:41:02 application/octet-stream application/zip 86140 2025-09-14T15:19:46.972899 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia