THOMAS JEFFERSON & JAMES OTIS.   Term Paper ID:25489 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Compares 18th Cent. colonial leaders' backgrounds, ideologies & views on issues in years leading to revolution. Paper Introduction: OTIS AND JEFFERSON ON COLONISTS' RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS TO THE MONARCH AND WESTMINSTER This research paper compares the positions and views of James Otis, Jr. (1725-1783) and Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) toward the British Monarch, King George III, and the rest of the British government, ministers and Parliament, during the period of strife between Great Britain and the American colonies which led up to the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Both men played a leading role in advancing and articulating the colonists' cause, Otis from 1761 until his influence diminished due to his mental and physical deterioration in 1769 and Jefferson during the middle 1770s. In many respects, they shared a common vision as to the nature of the colonies' rights and obligations to the Crown and Parliament which stemmed from a Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. . Three Men of Boston. Boyd (Princeton:Princeton University Press, 195 -1997), 265.----------------------- 11 New York: Coward-McCann, 1943.Knollenberg, Bernhard. . He then said "by the god that made me I willcease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the Britishparliament proposes and in this I think I speak the sentiments ofAmerica."[xxvii] Conclusion Otis and Jefferson shared much in the way of political andideological orientation in their opposition to British policy toward thecolonies prior to 1776. Putnam's Sons, 1914.Galvin, John R. P. Jefferson entertained no such illusions. Important Differences Otis vigorously opposed attempts by various British ministries andParliament in the 176 s to impose tougher Acts of Navigation and Trade,including the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Tax of 1765, the firstinternal tax imposed by Britain on the colonies. (1725-1783) and Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) toward the BritishMonarch, King George III, and the rest of the British government, ministersand Parliament, during the period of strife between Great Britain and theAmerican colonies which led up to the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Mapp, Jr. According toMapp, "by his own testimony Jefferson's enthusiasm for the mountingopposition to the Stamp Act must have been great."[xx] He spent little timeon politics in the ensuing two years, being diverted by his law practice,his marriage and his plans to build Monticello. New York: Oxford University Press, 1949.Waters, John J. Galvin, Three Men of Boston (New York: Thomas Y.Crowell, 1976), 24.Otis, 97-98.Alf J. After Lexington and Concord, he said "thisaccident has cut off our last hope at reconciliation."[xxv] From time totime, he made comments that suggested that he wished things were otherwise.At the Second Continental Congress in May 1775, he indicated that he wishedfor ties with Great Britain to be restored. Lee andPatrick Henry of Virginia and possibly Benjamin Franklin on that list, butnot Jefferson. I, ed. Otis objected to the dutiesimposed under these acts on the grounds that they discriminated unfairlyagainst colonial merchants, and, in his 1764 Rights of the BritishColonies, he opposed them because "taxes are not to be laid on the people,but by their consent in person, or by deputation."[xi] At the same time, heacknowledged the supremacy of Parliament to legislate for the coloniesbecause "the power of parliament is uncontrollable, but by themselves, andwe must obey."[xii] At the same time, he argued that British laws whichfailed to acknowledge the autonomy of colonial legislatures violated theunwritten British constitution and were therefore void and said at the timeof the unpopular Townshend Acts that if "one legislative authority can besuspended whenever we refused obedience to laws we never consented to, wemay as well send home our representatives, and acknowledge ourselves asslaves."[xiii] In his 1774 Summary View of the Rights of British America, Jeffersonadvanced a much more assertive view than had Otis of the rights of coloniallegislatures vis-a-vis Parliament. I (New York: G. He supported the actions of the patriots in dumping1 , pounds worth of English tea in the Boston Tea Party in December1773. Boyd (Princeton:Princeton University Press, 195 -1997), 264."Letter to John Randolph, Nov. Waters says, "James Otis envisioned theanarchy of separation that independence might produce and refused toproceed."[xviii] After an altercation with a political opponent in which hereceived a minor head wound, Otis began to drink heavily and becamementally disoriented. Alpheus T. It sharply diminished as thegrievances of the colonies became more intense. This view led Jefferson eventually to favorcomplete separation and to support violent revolution, which Otis nevercould bring himself to accept. New York: Thomas Y. "The Rights of the British Colonies, 1764." In Free Government in the Making, ed. After recounting various historicalevents to buttress the point that the colonists' rights were equal to thoseof citizens of the mother country, he flatly asserted that "the BritishParliament has no right to exercise authority over us."[xiv] Aftercomplaining that British trade and navigation laws, including the recentlyenacted 'Coercive Acts,' which had resulted in the closure of the port ofBoston were discriminatory and unduly harsh, he added that "the exercise ofa free trade with all parts of the world" [was] "a natural right and whichno law of their [colonists'] own had taken away or abridged."[xv] Heacknowledged that the colonies owed an obligation to help defray the costof their own defense, but argued that they had by their own efforts largelyprovided for their own needs from their own labor and resources. W. Wars and Revolutions Britain 176 -1815. Endnotes Bibliography"A.F." Boston Gazette, 31 August 1767, 1.Bowers, Claude G. All these acts wereeventually repealed only to be followed by the 1767 Townshend Acts andother measures to bring the colonies into line. Mason (New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1949), 96.John R. Jefferson was associated with the interestsof the Piedmont frontiersmen in Virginia, independent farmers, who were,according to Bowers, "essentially democratic, men with no real affectionfor England."[ii] Both men attended leading colleges, Otis Harvard andJefferson William and Mary, where they imbibed the classics and otherBrtish and Enlightenment works in political philosophy, history andliterature. Putnam's Sons, 1914), 4.Mapp, 38.Ian R. Bowers, The Young Jefferson 1743-1789 (Boston:Houghton Mifflin, 1945), 9.Ibid., 71.James Otis, "The Rights of the British Colonies, 1764." In FreeGovernment in the Making, ed. New York: Madison Books, 1987.Mason, Alpheus T. . (Ed.). New York: Oxford University Press, 1949.Otis, James. had been in theMassachusetts House of Representatives for 15 years and was its Speaker andleader of the rural popular party at the time Otis became active incolonial affairs in 176 -1761. I. Julian P. New York: Collier- Macmillan, 196 .Mapp, Alf F., Jr. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1945.Boyd, Julian P. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Vol. Origin of the American Revolution. Norton, 1975), 133.Fawn M. Jefferson was nevertheless becoming increasingly radicalizedby the course of events. . In 1764, he said that "nothing can eradicate their [thecolonists'] natural and almost mechanical affection to Great Britain, whichthey conceive under no other sense nor call by any other name than that ofhome."[xvii] He viewed the Monarchy as an indispensable part of the orderrepresented by the British Empire. Jefferson never had much trustin George III and moved steadily toward a final break with the imperialconnection. New York: Oxford University Press, 1949."The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America, 4 July 1776." In Free Government in the Making, ed. F.," Boston Gazette, 31 August 1767, 1.Bowers, 88.Marie Kimball, Jefferson The Road to Glory 1743 to 1776 (NewYork: Coward-McCann, 1943), 248.Galvin, 3.Bernhard Knollenberg, Origin of the American Revolution: 1759-1766 (New York: Collier-Macmillan, 196 ), 184.Waters, 18 .Paul Leicester Ford (Ed.), Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson1743-179 Vol. Referring to the periodprior to 1769, he said that "our minds were circumscribed within narrowlimits, by an habitual belief that it was our duty to be subordinate to themother country in all matters of government, to direct all our labors insubservience to her interests."[xix] Long before his political philosophyhad fully developed, Jefferson had been thrilled by fellow VirginianPatrick Henry's stirring oratory in support of the opposition byMassachusetts and other states to the Stamp Tax in 1765-1766. Otis was a fifth generation descendant of Protestantfarmers in the English West Country, who migrated to Massachusetts largelyto escape religious conformity during the time of Charles I and who built asizeable fortune as landowners, shipowners and merchants in ruralBarnstable southwest of Boston. He followed George Washington's lead and supported the colonies-wideboycott of English imported products. His father Peter while well off had astrong yeoman background, got on well with the local Indians and possessed,according to Bowers, a "love of liberty and human rights."[i] Members of their families had been leaders in community and colony-wide politics, particularly Otis's, whose father Otis, Sr. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 195 -1997.Brodie, Fawn. 29, 1775." In The Papers ofThomas Jefferson Vol. The Otis Family In Provincial and Revolutionary Massachusetts. As late as August 25, 1975, hesaid "I hope the returning wisdom of Great Britain will e'er long put anend to this unnatural contest" and that he was among those "who still wishfor a reunion with their parent country."[xxvi] By November 29, 1775 he hadreached a parting of the ways. Norton, 1974.Christie, Ian R. New York: G. P. I, ed. (Ed.). Jefferson took a moreradical position concerning the colonists' rights to political and economicautonomy than did Otis. In 1764,Otis said "tyranny of all kinds is to be abhorred, whether it is in thehands of one, or of the few, or of the many."[iii] In opposing the writs ofassistance issued by the Crown to enforce the customs laws and to curtailsmuggling in the Port of Boston in 1761, Otis said they were "the worstinstrument of arbitrary power, the most destructive of English liberty andthe fundamental principles of the Constitution that ever was found in anEnglish law book."[iv] Otis and Jefferson shared the belief that thecolonists shared what Otis called the same "rights, liberties andprivileges" as other Englishmen, which were rooted, according to Otis, in"the law of God and nature, . W. acts ofparliament."[v] Both men agreed, but Jefferson was to expound at greaterlength, according to Mapp, that "legitimate authority to rule was derivedfrom the consent of the governed."[vi] The concepts of the natural rightsof man, as set forth in Otis's 1764 The Rights of the British Colonies andJefferson's language in the Declaration of Independence express practicallythe same thought: Otis: "the end of government . Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson 1743-179 Vol. Upon being elected to theVirginia House of Burgesses in 1769, he was affronted by his cavaliertreatment by the governor and by the latter's dismissal of the legislatureon orders from London. The Young Jefferson 1743-1789. I. . New York: W. Jefferson's family, which was of Welsh,English and Scottish origin, had by the time of his birth accumulatedsubstantial wealth, particularly his mother's Randolph kin who were part ofthe Tidewater plantation aristocracy. H. Waters, The Otis Family In Provincial and RevolutionaryMassachusetts (New York: W. Similarities of Background and Preparation Otis and Jefferson had family backgrounds with strong roots in theestablished order. New York: W. Otis, whorejected slavery as contrary to the "law of nature," never freed his oneslave boy.[ix] Jefferson never freed most of his slaves, but, according toBrodie, he denounced slavery as a younger man as "an infamous practice" andtried in 1769 to have a bill passed by the Virginia House of Burgesseswhich would have authorized any Virginia citizen to emancipate his or herslaves.[x] The view that neither blacks nor Indians were entitled to therights of citizenship was commonly held in colonial America, north andsouth. Mason, 141- 142. . In preparation forthat event, he put together his thoughts for the Virginia delegation inWilliamsburg in his Summary Views of the Rights of British Americans, inwhich Christie says he "articulated a theory of an Empire of free and equalstates connected only by common loyalty to the same sovereign."[xxi] In that Summary, Jefferson acknowledged that the Monarchy had asymbolic role, "a common sovereign who was thereby made the central linkconnecting the several parts of the Empire."[xxii] Jefferson was then notquite ready to sever the bonds of kinship with Great Britain, but, afterrecounting the many grievances of the colonists against the Monarchy, heused language in the Summary which was not designed to endear him to theKing whom he advised: "let not the name of George the third be a blot inthe page of history."[xxiii] Bowers says that before the outbreak of hostilities at Lexington andConcord in April 1775, "few among the patriots were thinking in terms ofabsolute independence."[xxiv] He includes Samuel Adams, R. Both men shared a strong aversion to tyranny in any form. He organized a day of prayer andfasting in May 1774 in support of the Boston patriots and helped organizethe Committees of Correspondence which led to the first ContinentalCongress which met in Philadelphia in September 1774. Mason, 95-1 1. the common law, and . is above all things to provide forthe security, the quiet, and happy enjoyment of life, liberty, andproperty."[vii] Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men arecreated equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certainunalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit ofHappiness."[viii] A certain degree of hypocrisy lay behind these assertions. Thomas Jefferson A Strange Case of MistakenIdentity (New York: Madison Books, 1987), 19.Otis, 97."The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States ofAmerica, 4 July 1776." In Mason, 141.John J. London: Edward Arnold, 1982.Ford, Paul Leicester (Ed.). Brodie, Thomas Jefferson An Intimate History (New York:W. Christie, Wars and Revolutions Britain 176 -1815 (London:Edward Arnold, 1982), 1 6.Bowers, 87.Mapp, 87.Bowers, 113.Mapp, 87."Letter to John Randolph, August 25, 1775." In The Papers ofThomas Jefferson Vol. Julian P. They were trained and practiced as lawyers. Although most members of his family, including hisfather, supported the Revolution which ensued, Otis was inactive, becomingmore or less hors de combat, an individual worn out and torturedpsychologically by his long struggle on behalf of his beloved colony ofMassachusetts. Thomas Jefferson A Strange Case of Mistaken Identity. During 1767-1768 he frequently asserted his faithful allegianceto the Crown. Alpheus T. Thomas Jefferson An Intimate History. Both men played a leading role in advancing and articulating thecolonists' cause, Otis from 1761 until his influence diminished due to hismental and physical deterioration in 1769 and Jefferson during the middle177 s. He equivocated over whetherto support or oppose the Townshend Acts, issuing contradictory publicstatements. Otis remained at heart reluctant to break with theMonarchy and Westminster and was distressed by the radical directionpatriotic sentiment took in the late 177 s. Free Government in the Making. Crowell, 1976.Kimball, Marie. Although Otis was not averse to churning up anti-British sentiment inthe popular press to achieve his goals, Galvin observed that he had "afanatically conservative love of order, harmony and organizational power,sublimated in the symbol of Britannia."[xvi] He was a staunch defender ofprivate property rights, and like his counterpart in Pennsylvania, JohnDickinson, deplored the outbreaks of mob violence and destruction of theproperty of British citizens and loyalists which increasingly occurredduring the Stamp Act crisis and subsequently. In many respects, they shared a common vision as to the nature ofthe colonies' rights and obligations to the Crown and Parliament whichstemmed from a similar but by no means identical intellectual and culturalbackground; however, Jefferson's attachment to the Monarchy was moresymbolic and less deeply rooted than Otis's. W. Jefferson The Road to Glory. Norton, 1974), 93.Otis, 99.Otis, 1 1."A. W. Norton, 1975.-----------------------Claude G. OTIS AND JEFFERSON ON COLONISTS' RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS TO THE MONARCH AND WESTMINSTER This research paper compares the positions and views of James Otis,Jr. Alpheus T. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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