Names of Treason
They are names from the deepest, darkest parts of American History. The words are used to describe the acts of John Brown and Edmund Ruffin, Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr. They are defined by the US Law and codified in 18 US Code §2381-2385. And you hear them tossed about today: treason, rebellion, sedition and overthrowing the government.
John Brown
John Brown and Edmund Ruffin were two sides of the same coin back in the years prior to the Civil War. Brown believed so strongly in abolitionism, that he attacked a United States military armory for weapons to lead a slave uprising. It was a long plotted operation with the goal of creating a nation of freed slaves in the Appalachian Mountains, armed with the weapons of the US Army.
The attack on the Harper’s Ferry armory failed with several killed and Brown himself wounded and captured. He was tried for murder and treason. He died at the end of a rope, with his death triggering the final polarization that led to civil war.
Edmund Ruffin
Edmund Ruffin believed so strongly in the right to own slaves that he was a leading voice in South Carolina to secede from the Union. It was Ruffin who at sixty-seven years of age literally lit the fuse on the American Civil War, by firing the first cannon shot at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.
Too old to fight himself, Ruffin spent a good part of the war avoiding Union capture. He lost a grandson to the conflict, and when Lee finally surrendered, Ruffin wrapped himself in the Confederate flag, put a rifle in his mouth, and committed suicide.
Benedict Arnold
Other than Judas Iscariot there is no other named so linked to treason than that of Benedict Arnold’s. A rising General in George Washington’s Revolutionary Army, Arnold plotted with the British to open the Hudson River to British expansion. He would be paid £20,000 and given a commission in the British Army. If he succeeded, the colonies would be split in two, making them easy prey for the Redcoat forces. It was only through Washington’s spies that Arnold was found out before he could act. He escaped the noose, and became a Brigadier General fighting against the Continental Army he once served.
Aaron Burr
But the “treason” we should look most closely at today is that of Aaron Burr. We all know the first part of the story. Burr “took his shot” in the Presidential election of 1800, using the complexity of the American Electoral College system to challenge Thomas Jefferson’s victory. Jefferson was forced to “make a deal” (“It might be nice to have Hamilton on your side”) to gain the Presidency.
Burr served as Vice President for four years, but Jefferson made sure the job was only symbolic. And we all know what happened then: the animosity between Burr and Hamilton festered to the point of a duel, and Hamilton was killed.
But that wasn’t Burr’s supposed treason. After the duel, Burr was in danger of prosecution for homicide. He wandered out west, actually spending some time here in Ohio. As he moved down the Ohio River, he gathered a group with the avowed purpose of settling on land in Louisiana, then a part of the newly US acquired Louisiana Purchase. The 40,000 acres would be held by this quasi-military group, and perhaps declare its independence from American control, or even invade Mexico to establish Burr as King.
It wasn’t about ideology. It was about wealth and power, and though Burr’s treason was never proved, his trial marked the end of the political career in the United States. He would spend years in exile in Europe, then come back to his home in New York, a shadowy influence on future politicians until his death in 1836.
Treason
Treason is a carefully defined term in law (18 US Code §2381). It requires the treasonous person to “…levy war against (the United States), adhere to their enemies, or give aid and comfort to them”.
So what is going on today? Seventeen states, 106 US Congressmen and Senators, and, the current President and Vice President, have the avowed intent to overthrow the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Whatever that action is legally, it is not, in fact, treason.
Misprison of treason (18 US Code §2382) is to have knowledge of, conceal or fail to disclose any action of treason. So if what is going on today isn’t treason, it isn’t “misprision” of treason either.
Rebellion and Sedition
Rebellion or insurrection (18 US Code §2383) is incitement of rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States of the laws thereof, or giving aid or comfort to those who do. And here’s a case that might be made. Those who advocate throwing out the election of 2020 results are essentially rebelling against the law, and those who “go along” with them are “giving aid or comfort”. For 106 US Congressmen and Senators who have joined the Texas lawsuit to overturn the election, they have lent the stature of office to an attempt to subvert the will of the people, and the Federal election laws.
Seditious Conspiracy (18 US Code §2384) states: “if two or more persons…conspire to…oppose by force to prevent hinder or delay the execution of any law of the United States”. The key word is “by force”, and while apparently that hasn’t happened yet, it certainly feels like America is on the verge of “force”. And if it does occur, who will be held accountable for the “conspiracy”? Will Joe DiGenova, who threatened that the fired head of election security should be “shot, drawn and quartered”, be found guilty? What about all the others who have called for “action”?
America Today
There may be John Browns and Edmund Ruffins out in our nation today; folks who through misguided beliefs and loyalties are willing to commit acts of violence and rebellion. Our polarized information sources, and our knowingly manipulative leaders are willing and able to take advantage of them. It’s not those confused ideologues that concern me. What does is the “Aaron Burrs”, our political “leaders” who are taking advantage of the atmosphere they have created for power and money.
And even worse, I fear the political leaders who can’t find the courage to stand up for American laws and traditions. They are allowing all of this sedition and insurrection to occur, because of the fear of a “tweet” that could end their political career. At least Arnold had the courage to don a Redcoat, and Burr to pull the trigger.
And what should the United States do about all of this? We have now passed the “hot potato” to the Supreme Court, where we hope that finally six Republicans will find the courage to stand for the Constitution. As for the rest, 18 US Code §2383 has the perfect remedy:
“…And shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States”.
If they don’t have the courage to uphold their office, they shouldn’t have it.
