Persuasive1
Persuasive1
James Otis, Jr. (February 5, 1725 – May 23, 1783) was a lawyer in colonial Massachusetts who was an early advocate of the political views that led to the American Revolution. The phrase “No Taxation without Representation” is usually attributed to him.
He was born in [West Barnstable, Cape Cod, Massachusetts [Barnstable]], Massachusetts to James Otis, Sr. and Mary Allyne, the second of thirteen children and the first to survive infancy. His younger sister Mercy Otis Warren, his brother Joseph Otis, and his youngest brother Samuel Allyne Otis also rose to prominence, as did his nephew Harrison Gray Otis.
Speaking of James Otis, John Adams said, “I have been young and now I am old, and I solemnly say I have never known a man whose love of country was more ardent or sincere, never one who suffered so much, never one whose service for any 10 years of his life were so important and essential to the cause of his country as those of Mr. Otis from 1760 to 1770.” James Otis epitomized the complexities and contradictions of the pre-Revolutionary War period in Boston.
James Otis graduated from Harvard in 1743. He practiced law briefly in Plymouth and then settled in Boston in 1750. He rapidly ascended to the top of the Boston legal profession. In his early career, he was known as a political conservative (rural Popular Party). As a reward, in 1760, he received a prestigious appointment as Advocate General of the Vice Admiralty Court. One of his duties was to prosecute smugglers, many of whom were prominent New England merchants, attempting to avoid the Acts of Trade. The result was a legal instrument called the “writs of assistance,” designed to gain evidence and aid prosecution of smugglers by the Crown. These writs constituted a general search warrant for vaguely defined contraband. The writs enabled British authorities to enter any colonists home with no advance notice, probable cause or reason given. Among others, Otis viewed this as an unwarranted invasion; a constitutional concern.
In a dramatic turn around in political disposition, he resigned 1761 from his appointed position at court. Otis represented pro bono the colonial merchants in an attempt to prevent renewal of authority for the writs. He argued eloquently against, in a five hour delivery to the court, that the writs were a violation of the colonists natural rights. This court was the Superior Court, the predecessor of the