When the Civil War began, Spooner sided with the Confederacy and claimed that they had a right to secede since they were exercising government by consent. He stated that the Northern States were attempting to prevent the southerners from conducting government by consent and as a result were violating their rights. As a result, he was a harsh critic of the Civil War and the Reconstruction.

After the war ended, Spooner praised the federal government for abolishing the practice of slavery. However, he maintained that the war was not justified since their main goal was to preserve the union and not to simply end slavery. He also declared that the war violated the Declaration of Independence, since it prevented the people from dissolving their connections to other governments as they pleased.http://freeinfosociety.com

So, just like Ron Paul, Spooner was a lunatic ideologue with no comprehension or care for the human toll of putting his ideas into action.