Patriot, Hero,
Distracted Person
James Otis, Jr.
& Mental Health in the Eighteenth Century
By almost any telling of his tale, James Otis, Jr. lived a dramatic and tragic life.
As a radical political leader in 1760s Boston, his fierce rhetoric and biting personal attacks earned him both admiration and scorn. After a head wound worsened his already turbulent emotional state, he was declared too mentally ill to take care of himself. His law practice closed, he lost his political influence, and he was moved to the countryside to recover. After a decade marked by isolation and personal tragedy, Otis died at only 58, killed by a bolt of lightning just months before the Revolutionary War ended.
The tragedy of James Otis was not inevitable. In 1761, he was among the brightest rising stars in Boston, establishing himself as a brilliant legal mind. He is most famous for his famous argument against the Writs of Assistance in 1761, which John Adams credited with sparking the American Revolution: “Then and there the Child Independence was born.” In that same speech, Otis considered the nobility of sacrifice for one’s country:
“The only principles of public conduct, that are worthy of a gentleman or a man, are to sacrifice estate, ease, health, and applause, and even life to the sacred calls of his country. These manly sentiments, in private life, make the good citizen; in public life, the patriot and the hero.”
Otis, an early leader of the American Revolution, was an unpredictable genius; an excitable radical whose temper, obsessive work ethic, and personal turmoil made him rash, and sometimes reckless. By 1769, these traits contributed to his being incapacitated by mental illness. While in his political pursuits he sacrificed his ease and health, after officially being declared a “distracted person,” he ended up losing nearly everything else, too. In this process of devotion, sacrifice, and loss, he lived up to his own ideals of what a patriot and a hero truly are.
_edited.png)
Portrait of James Otis, 1755
A passionate political leader of Boston in 1761, by 1771, Otis was declared a "distracted person" and was forced to retire from public life.
What do you call it?
Throughout this exhibition, we use mostly modern-day language to refer to James Otis’ mental state, but occasionally use eighteenth-century terminology in quotation marks. Non compos mentis, as a legal term, is always italicized. While these outdated terms are inaccurate and in some cases offensive, we feel they play an important role in demonstrating how colonists with mental illnesses were viewed and talked about by their communities.
We invite you to think about the words you use when talking about mental illness in your daily life. How does the language we use affect how we see mental illness?
Interactive: Mapping Otis’ Life
Otis was deeply influenced by his surroundings. While eighteenth-century Massachusetts was considerably less developed than today, the bustle of Boston often made his mental health worse, while the countryside allowed him respite. This map traces important locations in Otis’ life.
As you explore, we invite you to consider how your own mental state changes depending on your environment. Where are you when you feel best?
A Note from the Co-developer:
"Patriot, Hero, Distracted Person is the first chapter in the America’s Mental Health & Wellness Corridor story. As an early American with a mental illness, Otis’ life and care fuse together the often separated stories of the Freedom Trail in Boston, and America’s Mental Health & Wellness Corridor beyond.
The connection between freedom and mental health in America is complicated. Through creativity and research, this exhibit considers freedom and its relationship to mental health for an unsung American hero. In colonial Boston, James Otis ignored his well-being to fuel voracious and brilliant arguments that influenced the most basic freedoms we enjoy today. Thanks to Otis’ promotion of privacy in one’s own property, we can feel the inner freedom and ease that come from laws giving us the right to be left alone.
I believe Americans wish for the good of each other when it comes to health. I salute this exhibit for wishing good health to all–both physical and mental health."
- Paul Piwko, Co-developer of the National Museum of Mental Health Project
This exhibit will walk you through Otis’ life before and after his 1769 caning, which is often considered the start of his mental decline. Once you’ve read about Otis' three “lives” (personal, political, and emotional) and his caning (caning), you can choose any or all of his five “losses” (estate, ease, health, applause, and life) to explore.
After reflecting on Otis’ life story, we invite you to contemplate how two groups have interpreted and memorialized Otis: his contemporaries who made him a patriot and hero, and modern day artists who find meaning in Otis’s story.
Curatorial Team:
Kate LaPine
Lucy Pollock
Academic & Exhibition Advisors:
Dr. Leonard A. Doerfler
Abigail Epplett
Dr. Gerald Holland
Andrea Melvin
Paul Piwko
Alexandra Orlandi
Exhibition Designer:
Edith Manfred
Artistic Collaborators:
Mark Cutler
Julia "Jae" Eifler
Heidi Theresa Manfred
Todd Otis
Ange "Michena" Similien
Special thanks to:
Andover Center for History and Culture
Barnstable Historical Society
Deirdre Kutt
Charlotte Lyons
Julien Osborne
Nancy Shoemaker
Martha Tubinis
Matthew Wilding