Speak Up For Our Natural Born Rights  – The Fourth Amendment

Fourth Amendment:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

James Otis Jr. argued for the Fourth Amendment (unreasonable search & seizures) in Boston before we had even declared independence from Great Britain. He was physically assaulted for continuing to speak out against Great Britain’s policies of “taxation without representation.” 

James Otis Jr. argued a case in 1761 against the “writs of assistance” which had attempted to authorize the search and seizure of anything deemed unauthorized by the writ given to just about anyone who requested one. The writs were overly broad, and meant no one’s private property was safe. James Otis Jr. did not win the judicial argument ( surprise, the British monarchy disagreed) however, James Otis Jr. continued to speak out against the policies the crown imposed on the colonies without representation. 

Otis even paid for a piece in the newspaper naming those who were distorting his good name. One night in 1765, he dared to enter an establishment in Boston “The British Coffee House” where his opposition gathered. That night he was welcomed with a beating that nearly killed him. He did not die, but he was never the same. The strikes to his head had an impact on his brain, and he was limited in his ability to argue against tyranny. 

James Otis Jr. was the brother of Mercy Otis Warren, who wrote poems, plays and more about the tyranny being inflicted on the colonists. (Freedom loving brother and sister who did not keep silent!) 

There is a statue of James Otis Jr. located steps away from a statue of his sister Mercy near the Barnstable County Courthouse in Massachusetts.

Sadly, James Otis Jr. died in 1783, in dramatic fashion. Otis was struck by lightning while standing in his doorway. Can you believe he said to his sister, Mercy, only weeks before his death, “My dear sister, I hope, when God Almighty in his righteous providence shall take me out of time into eternity that it will be with a flash of lightning.”

Here’s a timely quote from Mercy Otis Warren, and a bit of background about her. 

“America has fought for the boon of liberty…Guard it on every side that it might not be sported away by the folly of the people or the intrigue or deception of their rulers.” 

Mercy Otis Warren wrote poems, plays and other pieces critical of the British rule. Prior to 1790, she published anonymously (hmmm…wonder why?) One of her plays, “The Adulateur”(1772) was directed against Governor Thomas Hutchinson of Massachusetts and foretold the American Revolutionary War.

Mercy was born in Barnstable, Massachusetts in 1728, and had correspondence with Abigail Adams, Martha Washington, Hannah Winthrop, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and John Adams. 

John Adams was particularly encouraging about her writing a history of the Revolutionary War. However, it seems when her three volumes entitled “History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution” was published in 1805…Adams was…let’s say…less enthusiastic. He wasn’t happy with her recording of history…namely her portrayal of him and some of their political point of view differences…it seems they had a falling out of sorts. 

Seems that even those that have similar political positions are never in total agreement. That has been the American way…the right to disagree. Let’s protect that right, along with all our natural born rights. 

Diana Erbio is a freelance writer and author of “Coming to America: A Girl Struggles to Find her Way in a New World”. Read her blog series “Statues: The People They Salute” and visit the Facebook Page.