The writs of assistance were general search warrants that allowed customs officials to enter houses and places of business whenever and wherever they pleased to look for unspecified contraband. Otis believed the writs of assistance were unconstitutional, even if the colonists did not have a written constitution. He did something about it.
Otis resigned his position in 1761 to defend smugglers against the vagaries of the writs of assistance.
He presented a spirited defense against the writs of assistance in a classic February 1761 court case. Otis’s eloquent five-hour presentation to the court explaining why the writs were unconstitutional captured the attention of a young attorney sitting in the courtroom, John Adams.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“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 THEIR 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 MAY INQUIRE.”
—JAMES OTIS
Despite Otis’s brilliant performance, the court upheld the writs of assistance. That disappointed Otis and his clients, but it did not dissuade him from continuing his resistance to the writs or the laws with which they were associated. Like other patriots (including his sister, Mercy Otis Warren), he turned to the pen as his weapon of choice.
The Pamphlet Is Mightier Than the Sword
In 1764, Otis produced an insightful pamphlet, Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved. He also wrote A Vindication of the British Colonies and Considerations on Behalf of the Colonies, in which he attacked the British idea of “virtual representation” in Parliament (the idea that one can be represented by a decision-making process without being able to vote for those who make the decisions) and the philosophy of the Navigation Acts, which he claimed inhibited the trade of the colonists’ manufactured products.
Otis was not afraid to challenge the British in court or writing, join organizations formed to help the colonists express their distaste for the king’s policies, or take action against them. He became a member of the Sons of Liberty, and attended the Stamp Act Congress of 1765. Significantly, he introduced the motion in the Massachusetts assembly proposing that the congress be convened.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“AN ACT AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION IS VOID; AN ACT AGAINST NATURAL EQUITY IS VOID. TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION IS TYRANNY.”
—JAMES OTIS, REGARDING THE STAMP ACT OF 1765
Taking a Beating
In September 1769, Otis wrote a satire of the local commissioners of customs that appeared in the Boston Gazette. John Robinson, an enraged Boston customhouse official, reacted to what he perceived as a libelous account of him and confronted Otis the next day, attacking him with a cane. Robinson beat Otis viciously around the head with his weapon. The aftereffects of the attack produced periods of mental instability in Otis that plagued him throughout the rest of his life and rendered him incapable of participating in public affairs at a time when his guidance was needed.
Otis achieved a moral victory as a result of the affair. He sued Robinson and was awarded £2,000 in damages. But Robinson offered a public apology, which Otis accepted and declared that he was satisfied. That ended the affair—but Otis paid the price in the long run.
Sadly, instead of becoming a patriot leader, Otis became a figure of public ridicule. He spent his days wandering around Boston, subjected to jeers from people who forgot or ignored his significant contributions on their behalf prior to 1769. History has not been kind to James Otis Jr. He does not receive the amount of credit due him for his contributions to the patriots’ cause. Strangely enough, he did not have a lot of time to consider them after the Revolutionary War ended.
Misfortune plagued him once again on May 23, 1783, when a bolt of lightning struck and killed him. That was a bizarre ending for the once-popular patriot whose strokes of genius had helped pave the way for American independence.
THOMAS PAINE
Thetford, England
January 29, 1737–June 8, 1809
Roving Revolutionary
Thomas Paine is sometimes called “The Father of the Revolution,” though the seeds of the revolution were planted long before he arrived in the United States. Paine came from England to Philadelphia and earned national prominence in 1776 when he published Common Sense, in which he ardently supported American independence. He also served in the army for a short time during the Revolutionary War. His biggest contribution was The Crisis, a pamphlet that encouraged Americans to remain resolved.
Fired with Enthusiasm: Fired from
Everything Else
Young Thomas Paine exasperated his father and everyone around him. He flunked out of school before he was twelve. He served an apprenticeship with his father as a corsetmaker but refused to be tied down, so he tried his hand as a sailor. That did not work either.
Losing jobs, businesses, and the people he loved was commonplace for Paine in his younger years. He started a business as a corsetmaker in Sandwich, Kent, in 1759, the same year he married Mary Lambert. His business failed. They moved to Margate, England, to get a fresh start. Mary became pregnant, but went into early labor. Lamentably, she and the child died in 1760—less than a year after their wedding.
REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS
Thomas Paine also worked as a servant and schoolteacher. According to some accounts, he was an ordained Church of England clergyman—even though he had been raised as a Quaker.
Later, he obtained a job in 1768 as a tax officer in Lewes, England, working for a government for which he had no particular fondness. Paine functioned as a tax officer for four years. During that time he was fired twice. After being fired the first time, he opened a tobacco shop and married his landlord’s daughter, Elizabeth Olive, on March 26, 1771. The shop and the marriage failed. He was able to obtain a second appointment as a tax officer.
Although Paine was unable to hold a job, he found his true calling during his time with the tax authority. He wrote his first political tract in 1772, a twenty-one page pamphlet called The Case of the Officers of Excise. In it, he argued on behalf of his fellow tax officers in Lewes for a pay raise and better working conditions. Two years later he was discharged for being absent from his post without permission.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“SOCIETY IS PRODUCED BY OUR WANTS AND GOVERNMENT BY OUR WICKEDNESS.”
—THOMAS PAINE
REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS
Paine had 4,000 copies of The Case of the Officers of Excise printed. Among the first recipients were the members of Parliament. They were not amused.
He moved to London, where he met Benjamin Franklin in the early 1770s. Franklin was impressed by Paine’s passion. The elder statesman suggested to Paine that a man of his talents—which had not yet been developed fully—should move to America. Paine followed Franklin’s advice.
The Power of the Press
Paine arrived in Philadelphia on November 30, 1774. He began writing articles for Pennsylvania Magazine to gain journalistic experience. During his first year in the city he developed an appreciation for the American’s pursuit of independence.
On January 10, 1776, Paine published his short work, Common Sense, in which he attacked the British form of government and its constitution, opposed reconciliation with Britain, called for an American declaration of independence, and espoused a republican style of government in the new country. The controversial pamphlet was an immediate success.
Paine became an instant hero in America. His words were a clarion call to independence—and war. Paine put down his pen and joined the army. He picked it up again quickly.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“I FIND COMMON SENSE IS WORKING A POWERFUL CHANGE IN THE
MINDS OF MEN.”
—GEORGE WASHINGTON
Never Lose a Good Crisis
Even as Paine joined the army in its retreat across New Jersey, he continued writing. He authored a series of pamphlets known collectively as The American Crisis, which bolstered soldiers’ flagging morale and kept the spirit of independence alive.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“THESE ARE THE TIMES THAT TRY MEN’S SOULS.”
—THOMAS PAINE
Paine kept writing as the war drew to a close, and Americans continued to draw inspiration from his words. Finally, in The Crisis, XIII, he wrote, “The times that tried men’s souls are over—and the greatest and completest revolution the world ever knew, gloriously and happily accomplished.” Then he disappeared.
After the fighting ended, there was no need for Paine’s pen. He busied himself with more worldly issues, like wheedling money out of Congress. Since he was in dire financial straits after the war, he petitioned various governments for compensation. Congress eventually awarded him $3,000, and New York gave him a farm in New Rochelle it had seized from a Tory sympathizer.
REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS
Thomas Paine tried to earn some money on his own after the Revolutionary War by developing a smokeless candle and an iron bridge. Like most of his prior business ventures, his inventions did not pan out.
Finally, disenchanted with the United States and its lack of support for him, he moved back to Europe, bouncing between France and England. He wrote pamphlets in support of the French revolutionaries, for which he went to jail.
Paine languished in Luxembourg Prison from December 28, 1793, to November 4, 1794. The new U.S. ambassador to France, James Monroe, finally secured his release.
A Sad End
Friends were getting hard to come by for Paine as the nineteenth century began. He had begun a series of attacks on religion, which was making him persona non grata in Europe. Thomas Jefferson came to his rescue and invited him back to the United States.
News of Paine’s attacks on religion reached the United States long before he did in October 1802. When he got back to what he thought was friendly territory, former friends greeted him with less than open arms.
Paine spent his final years in New York City, suffering from alcoholism, poverty, and poor health. He had become a subject of derision, rather than a returning hero. He died at the age of seventy-two, and was buried at his farm in New Rochelle.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“HE HAD LIVED LONG, DID SOME GOOD AND MUCH HARM.”
—THOMAS PAINE’S OBITUARY, NEW YORK CITIZEN NEWSPAPER
Only five people attended Paine’s funeral. That was a sad farewell for the man many people called “The Father of the Revolution.”
CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY
Charleston, South Carolina
February 25, 1746–August 16, 1825
Pinckney was a legislator, a soldier, an envoy to France, an unsuccessful candidate for U.S. president (twice)—and proud to serve in whatever capacity he could. He was a nationalist who had a vision of the United States as a country with a central government, not just a confederation of states, which distinguished him from most of his contemporaries who had not thought that far ahead.
Homecoming
By any measure, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, not to be confused with his first cousin once removed and fellow prominent South Carolina politician Charles Pinckney, should have been a Tory. His father, South Carolina’s agent in Britain, moved the family to England in 1753. Charles was educated at Oxford University and studied law at Middle Temple. He lived in the “Mother Country” for sixteen years. British affiliations notwithstanding, Charles threw in his lot with the colonies in their spat with Britain when he returned to South Carolina in 1769 with his law degree in hand, ready to start his own practice and enter politics.
His first foray into politics occurred in 1769, when he was elected to the South Carolina legislature. Four years later, he was appointed to a position as a regional attorney general. He had to put his career on hold to serve his country as an officer in the Continental Army.
REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS
Unlike many of the patriots who helped build the American Revolution, Charles C. Pinckney did not participate in the Continental Congresses.
As did so many men in the mid-1700s, Pinckney joined the militia. He did not enlist because he wanted to march off to war. It was more of a social steppingstone for young men of the genteel persuasion. Pinckney joined the prestigious 1st Regiment of South Carolina militia; his peers elected him as a lieutenant. The training came in handy.
Pinckney on Patrol
There was one major difference between Pinckney’s view of the embryonic United States and that of his peers. He believed that patriots had to look at the big picture; they had to fight for a united country rather than strictly for their individual states. Consequently, he joined the Continental Army rather than wait for the British to attack South Carolina. As it turned out, he did plenty of fighting in his home state.
REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS
Pinckney served dual roles during the Revolutionary War. He was a member of both the lower house of the state legislature and the South Carolina Senate.
Early in the war Pinckney served as an aide-de-camp to General Washington at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown in 1777. He then returned to South Carolina and resumed his duties as a legislator. They were far different from those he had carried out as a soldier.
Leaders in the field started beseeching Pinckney for financial relief and support.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“BE GENEROUS TO YOUR MILITIA. ALLOW THEM EVERYTHING NECESSARY TO TAKE THE FIELD. IT IS NOW TIME TO OPEN YOUR PURSE STRINGS. OUR COUNTRY IS IN DANGER. BE MORE BOUNTIFUL THAN YOU HAVE BEEN HITHERTO IN THIS PRESENT ADMINISTRATION.”
—WILLIAM MOULTRIE IN A JANUARY 10, 1779, LETTER TO CHARLES PINCKNEY
Soon Pinckney was back in the field himself. He served during the siege of Savannah, Georgia, in September and October 1779 and then at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1780. The British captured the entire Continental Army fighting at Charleston, and detained Pinckney as a prisoner of war until 1781. That ended his military involvement in the war.
Idea Man
Pinckney served in the South Carolina legislature from 1786–89, with a brief break to attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. He offered many ideas as discussions progressed. Many of them were not adopted because they were considered radical. Among them, Pinckney wanted to abolish slavery and allow an unlimited number of soldiers in a standing army. Radical ideas aside, he led the successful ratification effort back home in South Carolina. Mostly, he advocated for a strong federal government.
Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
“THE GREAT ART OF GOVERNMENT IS NOT TO GOVERN TOO MUCH.”
—CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY
REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS
At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Charles Pinckney suggested that U.S. senators serve without pay. He thought they should all be independently wealthy men.
Once the Constitution was adopted, Pinckney became increasingly active in national politics. He turned down offers to serve as the secretary of war and secretary of state, but left the door open for other positions. More importantly, Pinckney and John Adams became good friends—and ran on the same presidential ticket.
Before that happened, President Washington appointed Pinckney in 1796 as minister to France. It was his first trek to Europe in a quarter century, and a most memorable experience—until political reality struck. The French government refused to receive Pinckney, who moved to the Netherlands after his credentials were rejected. His presence in Europe provided a unique opportunity for John Adams, who had replaced Washington as U.S. president. Adams asked Pinckney to join John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry on a committee in Paris to improve diplomatic relations with France, which resulted in the s
candalous XYZ affair in 1798.
Running Away from Landslides
French officials offered the Americans a deal regarding the ongoing differences between the two countries in the late 1790s. All the Americans had to do was offer a gift—preferably cash—to three unnamed French people (X, Y, and Z) to settle their differences. If they did, the French might sign a peace treaty.
The so-called XYZ affair ended when the Americans refused to offer the bribe, and the French bid the American envoys a less-than-pleasant adieu.
When Adams ran for reelection as president in 1800, Pinckney was the candidate for vice president. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr defeated them. The election results did not faze Pinckney. They whetted his appetite for future presidential campaigns.
Pinckney tried to win the presidency in 1804 and 1808, first against Thomas Jefferson and then against James Madison. He lost by landslides both times.
As suddenly as Pinckney’s national political ambitions surfaced, they disappeared. After his second drubbing in a presidential race, Pinckney returned to the solitude of South Carolina. He involved himself in local and state educational and religious matters.
Charles C. Pinckney is remembered for his fierce loyalty to the United States. That was how he lived his life—and that is how he will be remembered in death.
Not Your Father's Founders Page 16
