James Otis Sr. would ultimately be denied the appointment, which led his son to further scorn the upper class, many of which accepted the basic tenets of British rule. It was reported at the time that Otis Jr. was overheard saying, "If heaven I cannot bend, then hell I will stir" (Langguth, 19).
No one can say absolutely that this contributed to Otis" radicalism and vehement opposition to British authority but it is not unlikely that one's own life experience way heavily on individual commitment. Historian, Gordon S. Wood, author of The Radicalism of the American Revolution speculates that Otis intermingled personal and political motives to achieve his end results (Gordon, 62). James Otis used his own political position of king's advocate general to begin a very public refusal to continue to accept British rule by refusing to argue for the official custom officers in the writs of assistance case. He not only refused to argue for the custom officers but resigned his royal position to represent the opposition (Van Tyne, 175).
This case would become the hallmark of career and established him as revolutionary. It has been said that when Otis stood to plead his case, something profound in America changed (Langguth, 22). The Writs of Assistance gave unlimited access to customs officials to search ship, warehouses and cellars in search of dutiable goods. It was this unlimited access of power that provided Otis the fury to launch what many consider one of the most powerful orations leading to the American Revolution. During which Otis said "opposition to this kind of power, the exercise of which cost one king of England his head and the other his throne" (Van Tyne, 178). Patrick Henry may have uttered treason in 1765 but it may have been Otis that he used as a model. John Adams, himself believed that Otis" oration "breathed into this nation the breath of life," (Van Tyne, 179). It was at this point that Otis was irrevocable committed to the concept of American liberty.
