Vol 1. No. 5, May 2022 FRONT AND CENTER – The Path of American Independence

That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances. That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.

Much of this language will be reproduced, almost exactly, in the Declaration of Independence. The Lee Resolution’s call for independence is not without precedent, and neither is its expressed concern that the colonies agree to a political confederation for mutual defense and peaceful commerce. These ideas did not circulate among colonists in the early years of New-World settlement, but developed over time as events pushed them in that direction. So we should consider how this happened. The path leading to American independence, we may argue, began in 1761.

           The British fought a years-long war with the French and the American theater of that war is usually called the French and Indian War. The British government was in need of revenues to pay for the war and sought to gain some of it from the American colonies. But Americans were not interested in paying taxes for the king’s war and so hid wealth, engaged widely in smuggling, and generally did whatever they could to avoid the hated taxes. In response, the British government imposed writs of assistance which conferred upon British agents in the colonies the authority to enter any house, shop, warehouse, or ship, without a warrant, and search for and seize anything upon which relevant taxes had not been paid. As one would expect, British agents armed with a government monopoly on theft took full advantage.

           James Otis, Jr. was an admired young lawyer who served for a time as the advocate general for the British admiralty court in Massachusetts. When he was called upon to defend the writs of assistance from challenges by merchants in Boston, Otis resigned his office as advocate general and instead represented the Bostonians seeking to overturn the legality of the writs. In February of 1761, Otis appeared before the Massachusetts Superior Court to argue against the writs of assistance. He repeatedly asserted that “Taxation without Representation is tyranny,” and while Americans adopted this phrase as a patriotic motto, they likewise hated taxation with representation. The idea was that by controlling representatives, people can control the appetite of government for ever higher revenues. Otis spoke for five hours making the case against the writs from legal, moral, and political perspectives seeking to make this point:

One of the most essential branches of English liberty is the freedom of one’s house. A man’s house is his castle; and whilst he is quiet, he is as well guarded as a prince in his castle. This writ, if it should be declared legal, would totally annihilate this privilege. Custom-house officers may enter our houses when they please; we are commanded to permit entry. Their menial servants may enter, may break locks, bars, and everything in their way; and whether they break through malice or revenge, no man, no court can inquire. Bare suspicion without oath is sufficient.

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