The individual who refuses to defend his rights when called by his Government, deserves to be a slave, and must be punished as an enemy of his country and friend to her foe.

The statement frames citizenship as a reciprocal bargain: a government that calls on its people for defense is owed compliance, and refusal is cast not as private conscience but as betrayal. By equating nonparticipation with “deserving” slavery, it uses the language of honor and shame to enforce martial obligation and to stigmatize dissent as aiding the enemy. Read in Jacksonian terms, it reflects a hard-edged nationalism that privileges collective security and loyalty over individual autonomy, and it treats rights as something maintained through readiness to fight. The punitive tone also signals how easily civic duty can be weaponized to delegitimize political opponents or conscientious objectors.