Loss of Applause: Infamy & Disgrace
As a public figure, James Otis enjoyed the attention he received from both supporters and detractors. When he hitched his wagon to the revolutionary cause he earned the scorn of those loyal to the Crown, but once he became too much of a loose cannon, even his closest allies found it hard to defend him.
Portrait of Thomas Hutchinson (detail), ca. 1901
Thomas Hutchinson, who held nearly every political office before the Revolutionary War, presided over the Writs of Assistance case and opposed Otis at every turn thereafter.
Thomas Hutchinson, June 11, 1766
Robert Reid
1956.0011
Collection of Revolutionary Spaces
Virtuous or Vindictive?
In the 1750s, Otis was seen throughout British North America as a moral, well-spoken lawyer. His eloquence and skill were so famous in the legal community that he consulted on high-profile cases in different colonies, despite only being barred in certain Massachusetts towns.
But not everyone thought of him so highly. Thomas Hutchinson, a Massachusetts politician who became a major antagonist of the Revolutionary Era, had disliked Otis since a political scuffle in 1760. Hutchinson was appointed Chief Justice of the colony, despite the position being promised to Otis, Sr. The younger Otis supposedly raved that he would “set the province in flames” due to the snub. From then on, Hutchinson believed Otis was motivated by jealousy and spite, rather than justice. He was certain that Otis had held a grudge when he resigned his position as Advocate General to argue against the Writs of Assistance in Hutchinson’s courtroom.
The Writs of Assistance case made Otis enemies that would forever treat him with suspicion and disdain. As Otis was about to be reelected to the House of Representatives in 1763, Hutchinson wrote with contempt, “I do not think the major part of Boston think Otis a good man.”
A Terror and Nuisance
In March of 1770, Otis had his infamous “mad freak” at the Old State House. Just six months after his caning and days after the Boston Massacre, Otis smashed the windows of the building where he once made his name. Soon after, Otis fired guns from the window of his Boston home, revealing his mental instability to Sunday passersby.
Suddenly a liability, Otis was quieted by his colleagues and removed from the political scene. His exile likely worsened his temperament.
At this time, Otis’ struggle with alcohol became public knowledge too. Various accounts of Otis drunkenly wandering the streets surfaced in the 1770s. One December night, Benjamin Guild put to words what much of Boston was thinking.
“[Otis] now appears among the lowest ranks …He is a terror to the young and defenceless, and altho he discovers the ruins of a great mind; yet he is rather a nuisance than a benefit to society."
Southwest view of the Old State House, 1791
Possibly enraged by the Boston Massacre a few days before, in March 1770, Otis threw bricks through windows at the Old State House, where he served in the House of Representatives.
Samuel Hill
1969.0024
Collection of Revolutionary Spaces
In 1761, Otis framed the loss of applause as a sacrifice someone may have to make in service to their country as a patriot. Though Otis intentionally broke from those loyal to the British government, his behavior after his caning isolated him from the radical faction he once led, too.
Have you ever chosen to do something important even though it meant losing the approval or praise of others? What was that like for you and what did you learn from it?
