The Limits of Jacksonian Liberalism: Individualism, Dissent, and the Gospel of Andrew According to Lysander Spooner

In 1844 Massachusetts resident Lysander Spooner (1808–1887) advertised in the public press the establishment of the American Letter Mail Company. That agency promised to carry letters from New York to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Boston at a uniform rate of 5 cents (significantly less than the 12 ½ cents the federal postal service required for letters traveling from Boston to New York and 25 cents to Washington, D.C.); in so doing, it intentionally challenged the legitimacy of the federal postal monopoly. To be sure, Spooner intended to realize a profit from that venture.

Volume 21, Number 2 (2007)