ABSTRACT
Otis' argument reaped no immediate practical benefits; eventually, in fact, the court ruled in favor of the writ. But the theoretical implications of Otis' efforts were more far-reaching. Adams in later life remarked that "Mr. Otis' oration against writs of assistance breathed into this nation the breath of life." Otis did not, as Adams recalled he did, voice in the writs case every argument of the Revolution; nevertheless, he did become one of the best-read of Revolutionary pamphleteers, summarizing and elaborating upon the arguments he used in 1761. John Adams understood that human beings live in history. He appreciated the scope of a phenomenon so large as the American Revolution. As an old man he would repeat again and again his theories on the meaning of the Revolution; and because he had been both participant and observer his ideas were pertinent.
