Delete comment from: Boston 1775
Am not entirely certain that Otis tolerated or practiced slavery. A Google search revealed this: https://www.google.com/search?q=james+otis+opposed+slavery&rlz=1CAKSOU_enUS772US772&oq=james+otis+opposed+slavery&aqs=chrome.0.69i59.5576j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
''In 1764, slavery was an open question, with many calling it an abomination. James Otis that year came out against slavery in the protest pamphlet Rights of the British Colonies. He wrote, “The colonists are by the law of nature free born, as indeed all men are, white or black.”
''“I will to my dying day oppose, with all the powers and faculties God has given me, all such instruments of slavery on the one hand, and villainy on the other, as this writ of assistance is.” – 1761
The incongruity of arguing for their own freedom and liberty while enslaving others was openly discussed by American revolutionaries during the period leading up to the writing of the Declaration of Independence and beyond. In his most famous pamphlet, The Rights of British Colonists Asserted and Proved, James Otis (1725–1783) asserted that the slave trade is "the most shocking violation of the law of nature." He also stated that "It is a clear truth, that those who every day barter away other men’s liberty will soon care little for their own."
I do not claim to be an "expert" on any of this. However, these sources appear to contradict any notion that James Otis approved of or practiced slavery.
Jul 30, 2022, 4:31:17 AM
Posted to James Otis, Jr., and Slavery Revisited