Quotes by James Otis
If we are not represented, we are slaves.
An act against the Constitution is void; an act against natural equity is void.
Now one of the most essential branches of English liberty is the freedom of one's house. A man's house is his castle!
... Slave trade … is the most shocking violation of the law of nature‚ has a direct tendency to diminish … liberty‚ and makes every dealer in it a tyrant‚ from the director of an African company to the petty chapman peddler…. It is a clear truth‚ that those who every day barter away other men's liberty will soon care little for their own.
ALL PRECEDENTS ARE UNDER THE CONTROUL OF THE PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW... No Acts of Parliament can establish such a writ [writ of assistance enabling British search of homes for no reason]: … it would be void‚ 'AN ACT AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION IS VOID.' Vid. Viner. But … 'special' writs may be granted on oath and probable suspicion.
James Otis's Biography
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