Writs of Assistance

in Colonial history, general search warrants issued in 1761. The writs grew out of the difficulty experienced by the British custom house authorities in preventing smuggling into American ports. England was keen not only to prevent the importation of manufacturing machinery into the colonies, but to require the colonists to buy British goods only. In order to have some check on receipts of merchandise and to know what was going on, the British government placed nominal duties on goods imported into the colonies, and British custom officers were stationed at American seaports to collect the duties and prevent smuggling, especially the bringing in of goods from countries other than Great Britain. These officers spent about $35,000 a year in collecting $10,000 of customs and were unable to put a stop to smuggling. The British Lords of Trade fell back on a statute passed during the reign of Charles II and directed their American agents to apply to the courts for writs of assistance, or general search warrants, authorizing them to search ships, warehouses, and homes indiscriminately. On the first application to the court at Boston, James Otis, a fiery young lawyer, was retained to oppose the issuance of the writs. This he did in a brilliant plea in which he urged that the act of Parliament in question was unconstitutional: "Reason and the constitution are both against this writ. . . All precedents are under the control of the principles of law. . . No acts of Parliament can establish such a writ. . . An act against the constitution is void." This was a novel plea. Otis boldly denied the supremacy of Parliament. Nowadays the courts of the United States do not hesitate to declare a legislative act unconstitutional and void, but in that day the doctrine was new. The court took the application under consideration and subsequently issued the writs desired. It does not appear, however, that the writs were used. An officer endeavoring to make use of so obnoxious a document would have been mobbed. The controversy divided the colonists into a royal party and a colonial party. See Search Warrant