James Otis is Americas Founding Grandfather (But He Remains Unknown)
The story of Americas independence is full of well-known figures who are lionized today. Men like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington are well known to most in the United States and are immortalized with statues, monuments, and in the retelling of American history. However, absent from this pantheon is one man whose contributions set the stage for them all to reach greatness: James Otis Jr. Even today, he remains absent from our collective historical memory.America Before the Revolution13 Colonies Map. Source: ImgurEver since their founding in 1607, Britains American colonies have been a literal world apart from the island empire that sired them. In the colonies, the rigidity of social class that permeated British society was absent, allowing men of simple means to reach the upper echelons of society in a way that was not possible on the home island, provided they were able to amass the right amount of wealth.This distance from the home island allowed the leading men of places like New York, Philadelphia, and especially Boston to skirt unpopular trade laws in pursuit of the wealth they needed for self-promotion. Regulations like the Navigation Acts usually restricted where merchants could trade, but in the colonies, away from the watchful eye of Britain, smuggling flourished, and the merchant class filled their pockets. It was into this world that Otis was born.Otis the LawyerJames Otis, by Joseph Blackburn, 18th century. Source: Historic New EnglandBorn on Cape Cod in 1725, James Otis Jr. was the 13th child of a Massachusetts family headed by a puritanical militia commander and local political leader who expected a great deal from all of his children. Perhaps due to this drive and expectation, the Otis family would produce many brilliant minds, in particular Jamess older sister, Mercy. At a time when educational opportunities were not always easy to access for women, Mercy educated herself with her familys book collection and became one of the eras leading writers and political satirists, even publishing one of the earliest histories of the American Revolution along with poetry and many other works as well.Mercy Otis Warren, by John Singleton Copley, 1763. Source: Wikimedia CommonsOtis took after his sister, inheriting the same interest, brilliance, and skills when it came to reading and learning. In fact, he had such a distinguished mind that he was allowed to begin his education at Harvard at the age of 14, where he became infatuated with Enlightenment principles and soon rose to the top of the legal profession in Boston.News of his impressive legal victories in court spread, especially his prowess as an orator, and soon he attracted some very lucrative opportunities from the royal authorities he would come to oppose.From Loyal Subject to PatriotJames Otis Statue. Source: Wikimedia CommonsAlthough Otis would become intimately involved in the cause of American Freedom, he accepted a job as a prosecutor for the British government. This position seemed to indicate a bright future in the employ of the king, but that was not to be. In 1761, a change in British policy along with a personal slight so angered Otis that he switched sides and began a crusade against his former employer that would see the creation of the earliest and best arguments against British tyranny.Up until this time, the British had turned a blind eye to smuggling and did little to go after those perpetrating it. However, following the end of the costly French and Indian War, the British government was deeply in debt, and since smuggling was costing the crown large sums of money that could help them repay their huge war debt, they decided it was time to crack down on it.British authorities began issuing writs of assistancelegal documents that allowed royal inspectors carte blanche in their pursuit of illicit cargo. This included the searching of homes, ships, and warehouses whenever officials pleased in the pursuit of evidence of smuggling, and never required them to justify their actions. At the same time this was happening, Otis saw his father snubbed for an expected promotion to the Massachusetts Supreme Court by British authorities, and what was worse, his spot was taken by a family rival with no legal training.Old State House. Source: Wikimedia CommonsBoth of these moves drove Otis off the rails as he saw the snub as personal and the writs of assistance as a violation of one of the most fundamental of all English liberties. This is when he began using his brilliant legal mind to craft arguments against the crown, and in doing so, may have lit the flame that would one day lead to American independence.In February of 1761, he gave his most famous speech before a select audience in the Massachusetts State House. Otis launched into what became a five-hour tirade where he lambasted King George III, saying that a man should be as secure in his home as a prince in his castle. These sentiments would eventually inspire the creation of the Fourth Amendment within the American Bill of Rights, but at the time of his speech, they gave a firm legal foundation for the emerging independence movement.The PatriotJohn Adams, by John Trumbull, 1792-3. Source: White House Historical AssociationOtiss performance was lauded by many, earning him the title of the Patriot and turning him into a leading figure in the emerging movement against British tyranny. One of his many admirers was a young John Adams, who claimed years later that, then and there, the child of independence was born. Adams would go on to be a leading voice in the Independence movement, and Otiss example probably inspired him and a great many others.And this wasnt just an opinion held only by those who shared his views. His nemesis, Thomas Hutchinson, would become infamous for his role as colonial governor when the crackdown on revolutionary Boston would begin. In his private diary, he said that Otis was at the head of every measure in opposition [to] the authority of parliament. Revolutionary LeaderSamuel Adams, by John Singleton Copley, c. 1772. Source: Wikimedia CommonsNow a hero among those opposed to British tyranny, Otis began becoming more and more involved as the flames of revolution grew in Massachusetts. He soon became an ally of Samuel Adams, a fervent promoter of American independence who was so fiery and staunch in his views that even Otis considered him a bit too radical at times. He also allied himself with John Hancock, a wealthy merchant and the man who would eventually be the first signer of the Declaration of Independence. Together, they would found the Sons of Liberty, a loosely aligned secret organization that worked behind the scenes to whip up popular sentiment against the crown.Sons of Liberty Advert, 1765. Source: Wikimedia CommonsBy 1764, the British had redoubled their efforts to pass the cost of the war and defense onto the colonist with the Stamp Act, one of the worst policies that Parliament ever passed as it put a tax on all sorts of printed materials needed for everyday life in the colonies and set off a firestorm of protests that Otis and his confederates were quick to capitalize on.Otis printed a pamphlet, The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved, that contained a line that would go down in history as an unofficial slogan of the American Revolution, No taxation without representation!Stamp Proof Sheet, Stamp Act 1765. Source: Wikimedia CommonsBy this time Otis was perhaps the most famous and well-known leader of the revolution and was elected to Committee of Correspondence which coordinated opposition to British taxes and policies with other colonies, and the Massachusetts General Court where he became a constant thorn in the side of his enemy Thomas Hutchinson, something he no doubt would find a great deal of joy doing. However, it would be his enemies who would have the last laugh.A Career Cut ShortJames Otis Grave Marker. Source: Wikimedia CommonsMost historians agree that Otis would have been, as noted, a figure as Adams and other members of the Revolutionary generation if not for a tragic turn of events that silenced his voice and broke his brilliant mind.In 1769, he wrote a scathing newspaper article that insulted the work of British customs officials, which led to a confrontation between himself and a gang of four customs officers, including a man named John Robinson. While details of what transpired are not available, given Otiss penchant for crafting strong arguments, he probably had no trouble crafting equally strong insults that led to a brawl. During the fight, Robinson clubbed him hard on the head.The blow mentally impaired the famous attorney so badly that he found himself subject to increasingly erratic behavior and bouts of mania so bad and unpredictable that they effectively ended his career and made him a liability within the increasingly secretive liberty movement. Otis was reduced to nothing more than a raving madman wandering the streets of Boston, shouting at nobody in particular.Otis Denouncing the Writs, 1911. Source: Library of CongressWhen a period of clarity came to him, Otis would retreat from public life and become deeply depressed with his condition and the shadow of his former self he had become. He would tell his sister Mercy, an accomplished revolutionary mind in her own right, that he hoped, when God shall take me out of this time into eternity, that it will be by a flash of lightning. These words proved prophetic, after he was killed after being struck by lightning during a thunderstorm in 1783.
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