The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 278 - James Otis - The Almost Founding Father

Episode Date: June 30, 2017

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine the great orator of the American Revolution, James Otis. SOURCES - Main Source - "Why the Colonies’ Most Galvanizing Patriot Never Became a Founding Father" by Erick Trickey on SmithsonianMag.com SOURCESTOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCH

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bi-weekly American History podcast. Each week I drinker of Perrier, lover of pillows, muscled man Dave Anthony, reach a story from American history to his friend, Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. How'd I do? How'd we do? You weren't good I was great. All right well we're doing a little Instagram video now so this is a weird intro but uh look there's a loves the fan. What are you doing? Jose? Who would do that to a fan? That's a dumb cat. It's not fair. Do you want to look who to do? I'll do one bottle. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gareth. Dave okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun?

And this is not going to come to tickle you quite good. Okay. You are queen fakie of hate uptown. All hail Queen Shit of Liesville. A bunch of religious virgins go to mingle and do what? Pray. Hi, Gary. No. Is he done, my friend? Oh my god look at this picture of Fosdike. He's the best. He's the fucking good. What's he with a pelican? Fosdike and a pelican. All right by the way our our our shirts and other things you can buy with our art that is done by James Fosdike can only be found on Redbubble. There's another asshole who puts up art on different sites. Do not ever buy from that douche bag. Who puts up James art? A guy fucking grabs James art and throws up a different place.

Only Redbubble, only James Fosdike's account or else you're stealing from James Fosdike and us. Even though you don't know it. And you know what we do to thieves, don't you? You're still criminally liable. We cut off their hands. You know what we do to thieves, right? Their hands are goners. Gone. Gonzo. February 5th, 1725. Fun time. James Otis was born in West, well I'm gonna say it wrong. Great. Born... Attitude. Yeah well you're from Massachusetts. I'm not from Massachusetts. I've spent time there. Yeah I went to college there. Barnes Stable? Barnes Stable? Barnes Stable? I don't know. It's spelled like Barnes Stable. Let's go with Barnes Stable. I'm sure that's not how it's written. Barnes Stable. Yeah. Barnes Stable. That sounds about right. He was the second

of 13 children, though the first one died as an infant and a lot of them died. Let's be honest. Yeah. It's the 1700s. Yeah. His father was a well-known attorney and militia officer. Okay. Politician also. Sure. When he was just 14, Otis enrolled in Harvard. And when he was 14? Yeah but I think that's pretty normal back then. I mean you're gonna die at 40. Right. So I mean yeah. 14. That's when you do it. College at 14. We're all Dougie Hauser back then. Yeah. We're all Dougie Hauser back then. And I'm the only person making Dougie Hauser comparisons in history. Okay? Um, Dan Carlin does it all the time. I've always respected him. He graduated from Harvard in 1743. So how old is he then? He would be 18. Okay. Sure. And then practiced law briefly in Plymouth.

And in 1750 he moved to Boston where he quickly became a very well respected lawyer. Okay. So he's killing it. I mean I hate to keep going back to the Dougie well but it's not dry. He's the Dougie Hauser of law. He developed a reputation as an eloquent defense lawyer and successfully defended accused pirates in Nova Scotia. Okay. Yeah. And young men in Plymouth accused of writing on Guy Fox Day. Writing or rioting. Rioting on Guy Fox. Did I say writing? No but it's you know it's one of those words. Rioting. Rioting. Yeah. And you're spelling that W-R-I-T-I-N-G. He was the type of lawyer who would defend petty crimes of poor whites and indentured servants as well as property disputes of the rich. Okay. He's not just working for the rich.

He's like I'll help all people. Okay. A biographer wrote of him. He had an orators fire and passion. Also the orators eccentricities. All right. And orators are known to be eccentric. That's a I think at this time maybe. Sure. Maybe like you like a standup comedian or something. Right. Yeah. You kind of. Sure. You got. Yeah. Well that's what's implied. You got that green room attitude. In 1755 James married Ruth Cunningham. Okay. Of Happy Days. Oh yeah right. She was a merchant's daughter and an heiress to a fortune worth over 10,000 pounds which I assume is a lot of money back there. Sure. Yeah. Doesn't sound like shit right now. No. Particularly after Brexit. Right. The couple's politics were very different though they were very in love with each other. They

had three children James Elizabeth and Mary. Okay. In 1756 James was appointed as an advocate general in the vice Admiralty Court. One of his duties was to prosecute smugglers. Okay. So now he's working for the man. Okay. So he's flipped. Well yeah. Have we lost him. Well. Okay. Many New England merchants had resorted to illegal activities in order to avoid the burdensome acts of trade that controlled commerce throughout the British Empire. Okay. So there's fucked up trade rules. Right. That the Brits are throwing down on peeps. Sure. Is this. That's not written. Okay. It doesn't feel written. The crown then tried to crack down. Or rioted. Or ridded. The crown then tried to crack down on the smugglers with a new legal instrument the Ritz of Assistance.

The Ritz of Assistance. Yeah. It sounds good. Right. I don't know. It doesn't. It sounds vague which I thought I think is bad. The Ritz were general search warrants that let customs officials just enter businesses and homes without reasons. So it's bad to look for vaguely defined contraband. Oh my God. So so the so illegal search and seizure. Yes. So the British in response to people being upset about how they were treating them are like I'd have it if we just get to walk into your house. That feels like a gross overreaction. No it'll be good. Trust me. Hey looks like we got some contraband over here. That's my dog. Yeah. So a lot of calls in the dogs. A lot of calls were not down with the Ritz not down with just people walking into

your house. Right. Then Otis's father. Right putting on the Ritz. Right. Then Otis's father was beaten out of the Chief Justice job by it says a lot about the time that when you say beaten the first thing I picture are clubs demolishing. I mean I'm surprised that that's not what happened. Yeah. I'm surprised people didn't beat each other to death to become well you're fired. So he's beaten out of the Chief Justice job by Thomas Hutchinson who was Lieutenant Governor at the time. Okay. Otis went to Hutchinson. Oh boy. And swore to him that he would get revenge. Oh God. And that he would quote set the province in flames. Oh God. So. So he's. He's pissed. Yeah he's not fucking around. He's pissed. He doesn't

like what happened to daddy. Well this guy's pissed. Yeah he's angry. I mean this guy's not not pissed. This is not a this is not a not pissed man. And this is also again I mean these are eras where it sounds like when you make threats nobody was kidding. No no. It's like it's so easy like to get into an argument from your car. I'll burn the province down. All right. But like if you're in person being like I'm going to burn down the goddamn province you're like oh he's really going to burn down the province. People cash in. He also he also decided to represent pro bono the merchants who are challenging whether or not the Ritz of assistance were legal. So. So he bails on his job. And now he's immediately switches

sides. Okay. I like it. Like it. He's back in the back in the peoples. I like it. At the trial in 1761 Otis gave one hell of a speech for five hours. Oh God. John Adams wrote quote. Jesus God stop. Enough. We get it. After hour three he was just doing the same material a second time. About taking it down a notch. All crowd work. John Adams wrote quote. Then and there the child independence was born. The child. I don't think he was being literal. I think he was. Yeah. It wasn't it wasn't such a long speech that children were being born. Right. I mean it probably was but not in the courtroom. Right. What he's saying is independence was birthed. This is the beginning of an American independence.

Okay. This speech. Okay. Bostonians were so impressed with his speech that they elected him to the Massachusetts House of Representatives right after. Okay. In the house he led Patriots efforts to challenge a bunch of British laws and taxes which got him more fame with each out of outspoken defense of the colonists freedoms. Okay. So he's fucking. So he's he's going for. I mean as you know the famous Otis James. Well and one thing I've always loved about Odie and I call him Odie just because I have a shorthand with this. Sure. And you like Garfield. Pardon. Oh he hates Mondays. What's the topic. Can figure out what this was and I just realized what it is. There's no need to break it up. He gained

a reputation as a fiery brilliant and erratic man. Okay. Was he oratic. No he was erratic. Okay. But in that he could have also been oratic. Yeah. Based on what we've heard. Right. Okay. Friends called him Furio. What the hell. Can we do that more as friends. Can I call you Furio. Yeah. Does that make sense. His rival Hutchinson. Oh shit. Was that a shot. No that's a firework. Oh right. We're near for the July Dodgers in the fourth of July. Now that's cool. Jose doesn't like them. No I don't know why the cat just ran across the room freaked out. Where do you run to. Daddy's loving arms. Daddy's loving arms. So his rival Hutchinson nicknamed him the grand incendiary. Still playing the nickname. That's still a good

nickname. I would not have any problem with that at all. I take that over Furio. Are you fucking kidding me. The grand incendiary. Yeah bring it. That's better for you. His speeches were his speeches inflamed the colonists and inspired them to resist. John Adams said quote Otis was a flame of fire with a promptitude of classical illusions. I have no idea what that means. Words are made up a lot in history. Depth of research. Promptitude. A rapid summary of historical events and dates a perfusion of legal authorities. He's definitely dodging some. Well he I mean there he's using a lot of words but he's saying this dude's rad. Yeah. Summary. This dude's rad. He didn't come up with the phrase taxation without representation

is tyranny but he pushed the idea big time. And as time went by his opposition to taxation increased in 1764 he wrote a pamphlet that expanded this argument called the rights to the British colonies asserted and proved. In which he said England had no authority to tax the colonies unless they got a seat in parliament. Wow. Totally reasonable. Yeah. And now looking back shouldn't you have given a seat in parliament. Yeah. Oh God. Imagine how much they would have regretted that move now. Yeah. Who we just have some slob. Sorry I was on the iPad. What were we talking about. Would the gentleman from the United States of America please yield the floor. Pull my finger. Oh my Lord. How can he still have

more after all the other finger polls. The pamphlet was actually argued about in parliament oh my god itself like they got a hold of it and they discussed it where Lord Mansfield said quote it is said the man is mad. This book is full of wildness. OK. That's like that's not he's not a great order. That's well that's like dropping a bomb. I mean but as far as the man is mad comment there there was something to it. Otis did have a reputation. He was a bit mad in his diary. John Adams compared Otis to British Admiral Montague. Oh well I never. The nerve of Adam. Do you still have your your painting of a Montague in your eyes sold it but only because I'm going to get a Montague room. Jose is going

after a bug. Nope. Nope. Now. Gareth is going after a bug. You guys need to work together better. Montague was known to be very vulgar. OK. My wife's dead arse is so broad that she and I can't sit in the chariot together. This is the nature of the beast and the common language of the man. Admiral Montague's conversation by all I can learn of it is exactly like Otis's when he is both mad and drunk. Wait what did the guy say what did Montague say. Montague said my wife's dead arse is so broad that she and I can't sit in a chariot together. So this is like history's Larry the Cable guy. I mean he's working at a different. He's doing it. My wife is so fat joke. Yeah. Yeah. You know you might just be a colonist. If you

refer to your pockets as teabag holders you just might be a colonist. Come on. If you refer to your trip over from England as my bout with scurvy you might just be a colonist. Yeah. If you've had 13 children nine are dead and one went to Harvard at nine. Well guess what my friend you just might be a colonist yourself. You're doing pretty good for getting into history. My bench is tapped. Put everyone in. In March 1765 parliament imposed the Stamp Act which was basically a huge tax. Otis led the Massachusetts Legislature's opposition to the law. The Townsend Acts levied new taxes on the colonists two years later and revived the rits of assistance. Jesus. That's when Otis and Samuel Adams like the people in America

and the colonies are like hey how about some representation and English responses. What about more taxes. Right. So I don't know why it didn't work out. No. That's when Otis and Samuel Adams co-wrote the Massachusetts protest letter. Oh so they're coming together now. Yeah. And it's the same thing. No authority to text the colonies etc. This time King George the third reddit and was livid. It's great. He declared the letter seditious and demanded that the house rescind it. Otis fired back quote. Let Britain rescind her measures or the colonies are lost forever. He's fucking I mean that's not going to make him happy. Yeah he's fucking dropping that again. It's so great that it's like the time in between

contact. I know you have seven days of stewing. No it's coming across back in three hours you're like you're dead. Someone's dead. It's gotta be weeks. I don't know about we but we should figure out how long it took to cross the Atlantic back then but I would think 14 days minimum. Yeah. Yeah. That's weeks. Yeah. You're definitely I mean whatever it is. It's even if it was 10 days. It's probably stewing. Mm hmm. Middle of the night just sitting there. We better not if he writes something snarky. Now it will be if I receive another seditious pamphlet. Now it's instantaneous on Twitter. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah that's noticed. So the house rejected the king's demand by letter and then the governor of Massachusetts

was pissed and he dissolved the legislature. He dissolved the legislature. Yeah so the governor is a British guy. Right. So he dissolves the Massachusetts legislature. Bold swings. Now all this defiance hurt Otis's marriage. Ruth was a loyalist and a Tory. And a Tory. Tory. What's a Tory. Do you know anything about the elections over there right now. Where in England. Yeah. May is a Tory. May is a Tory. Yeah. Okay. So I know how I feel about the Tories. She was very against her husband's politics. John Adams wrote in a diary. Tory but I just don't agree with you. John Adams wrote in his diary quote he mentioned his wife said she was a good wife too good for him but she was a Tory. She gave him lectures.

So she just sounds awful. Poor guy. And joining the legislature and taking political positions it cost Otis. It sounds like he's trying to make it work though. Yeah. Yeah. But that's the thing. You know it. Look if you're if you marry a Tory and you're not a Tory you know the deal. You know the deal. You're gonna get a lot of Tory arguments. You're gonna be a lot of fucking speeches. Yeah. She was a Tory when he married her. Always a Tory. What's a Tory. Always a Tory. Always said that. Always said that. And joining the legislature and taking political positions it cost Otis much of his law practice. And Adams realized it would cost Otis more. Of Otis's speaking a schedule of speaking

out against Britain at town meetings. He's going around all over the place speaking out at town meetings. Adams said quote that way madness lies. Okay. Like I think he's just putting himself out there too far. Right. Otis's open advocacy of American rights upset many officials. His election to the speakership of the general court in 1766 was voided by the governor. At the same time Otis saw dark times approaching. He told the legislature quote the times are dark and trying. We may soon be called on in turn to act or to suffer. Soon after four British customs commissioners in Boston complained to London about Otis. Furious Otis went after them in a local paper calling them quote superlative blockheads.

Nice. And he threatened to break the head of commissioner John Robinson. Not as not as word smithish but still nice. Nice to know he's got both. So he threatened to beat a guy down. Yeah. That's pretty clear. The next night he went looking for him. Oh God. Again threats are real. Otis found Robinson at the British coffee house near the wharf and demanded a gentleman's satisfaction. Oh God. These I mean we got to start using some of these right. Don't you think. Yes. Indiary. I demand a gentleman's satisfaction. Yes. Robinson grabbed Otis by the nose. What. OK. Now what did he ask for. A gentleman's what satisfaction. A gentleman's satisfaction.

Yeah. And his nose gets grabbed to me doesn't seem like a gentleman's satisfaction. As far as what I know what I know about gentlemen's satisfaction. Right. The two men fought exchanging blows and using their canes. Oh nice. All right. So this is a real penguin. It's not it's not a fuck around. So it's a loyalist coffee house and many of the loyalists in there pushed Otis and shouted for his death while British officers stood by and watched in the end Otis was left bleeding on the floor. Months later he still had a deep scar. John Adams said quote you could lay a finger in it. Oh why. Why did he say that. You got to gauge the depth of the scar as much. Just put your finger right in there. Otis let me

see. Good. My index fits right in there like a cloud. That's quite a scar. Yeah and I actually don't think it was that size until you started measuring it with your finger. Everybody's poking it and making it deeper. Look at this. Hey Bobby come here. Look I've got brain. Holy moly call Larry over. Oh I bet Larry could get his you know what inside there. My weenie. That's right Larry. That's right. I'm bad Larry. Let him out the cage. So Otis sued Robinson and won 2000 pounds in damages. Okay. I just shit a lot of money back there. Yeah but he got beaten down but also why go there. Why go to the place. Yeah why make it an away game. Otis doesn't always think. Yeah well that's that's not going to get

any better with a finger sized hole in his head. Otis passed on the two thousand dollar award in return. I want what's in the box. I want what's in the box. I want what's in the box. Give me the box. Well he got a published apology from Robinson. Instead of the two grand. Yeah. Wow. I would have taken the two grand. Absolutely. The trauma unhinged the already teetering Otis. He started drinking a lot and saying he regretted opposing the British. He just wandered the streets of Boston drunk. Adams wrote quote he rambles like a ship without a helm. I fear I tremble. I mourn for the man and for his country. That was in the summer by February. Adams wrote Otis was quote raving mad raving against father

wife brother sister friend. Oh boy. So he really got the ship beat out of things are going well. Hutchinson wrote in his diary that Otis' madness seemed to come and go. After Otis stopped an anti-British vote in the legislature he wrote quote Otis appeared and spoke so well against it that he prevented its passing otherwise it would have. Wow. He dressed himself very decently on that occasion but soon returned to his sorted dress and demeanor out on the streets. Okay. So he's. So it sounds like he has not look in the role. It sounds like he has like a bipolar situation because he it sounds like he goes into these manic phases and then he comes out of them and it sounds like I don't know

if this is how this works but whatever the the injury he sustained which was clearly a brain injury exacerbated whatever conditioning. Right. Yeah I was going to say I don't think it would cause it but yeah definitely. No he was clearly he was clearly a little a little on the crazy side before he had some sort of mental condition. Right. A real Montague. Still he was reelected at the house in 1771. Damn man we just like you know honestly we are a country of option A. We close the deal we're like we just take it. He's all right. Didn't he just walk by pissing and screaming. Yeah. But I recognize his name. Yeah. Yeah. Otis. Him. That's the one. The one with the sausage size hole in his head. But he was

the one Larry's been having sex with in his head. That one. But he was too much of a mental mess to play much of a role. John and Samuel Adams and other friends still supported and socialized with them but they weren't surprised when he went nuts. In December Otis was carried away with his hands and feet bound. He went to live with different friends in the countryside alternating between lucid moments and relapses. Oh boy. The revolution was not great for his family who were divided. His wife Rose refused to sleep with him as long as he opposed British rule. God damn I mean they. So as soon as he went over to start talking shit about the British he didn't give fuck no more. But also wait when he made the move to stop talking

shit about the British. No. When he when he made the move to to break with the crown and right and he didn't have sex anymore. Yeah. That was the end of sex. No. He's really I mean he likes complicated situations. Yeah. His son James Otis the third enlisted in the American Navy and died in a British prison at 18. His daughter Elizabeth was a loyalist and she married a British captain and moved to England. Oh boy. Otis disowned her. Oh God. His younger brother Samuel Otis was the first secretary. It feels like she disowned him and then he wanted to label it. Yep. Yeah. She married a British guy and moved to England. Yeah. Kind of being like yeah I'm out of here and he's like well if you're leaving you're

disowned. Otis's friends took on leadership roles in the revolution that Otis might have assumed and his sister Mercy. I thought it was his daughter. OK. His sister Mercy organized political meetings and published anti British political satires that also attacked Hutchinson. She was one of the first women in America to write for the public and a great voice for the revolution. That's good. Hell of a fucking family. Yeah. Seriously. Mercy often wrote about her loved ones in poems but she never wrote about her mother. So there's something up with the mom in this family. When visiting Mercy Otis talked about how he hoped to die quote my dear sister I hope when God really thought there was going to be more to that.

You know I hope to die gloriously. I hope to die when you hear how he hopes to die. My dear sister I hope to die when God Almighty in his righteous providence shall take me out of time into eternity that I will be taken by a flash of lightning. Oh shit. So he he just asked. He just basically asked God to kill him by lightning. I mean that's where he is at. He's like you imagine that I want to be taken out like expecting what's coming out. You know you know I just want to make sure that when I go you know how I want to go. No I don't tell me. I want to be killed by lightning. OK. That's no no no no no wait listen. It's really hard. No we're supposed to get. It's really hard. It's supposed to

rain later. No it's still hard. Look listen to me. Listen to me. I'm dying. OK. And I and I want the last thing I feel. Yeah to be lightning. OK that's not an end. It's got to be a big bolt too because I don't want to live after it. OK. So I want to be killed by a big one. It's not a thing. It's not going to happen. Make it happen. It's not going to happen. Come on. No with that attitude. Fucking lightning. Well get it in a bottle. I've heard of that. That's just because the thing people are saying. Remember everyone said you're crazy. You're fucking crazy. You're crazy. All right. Well then all right. New one. No. I want to be. I want to die inside the belly of a whale. But I want to be eaten

and live in there. God I'm going to go. Lightning's the other option. OK. I think lightning would be easier for you. Good guy. In early 1783 Otis came back to Boston and his friend John Hancock who was then the Massachusetts governor through a public dinner to mark his return. But the speeches and toast threw off Otis's mental balance and his family had to take him back to the countryside. Oh shit. When he got there Otis burned most of his personal papers. Oh my god. Yeah he's fucking done. On May 23 1783 he was at the house of Mr. Isaac Osgood leaning on his cane at the front door watching a thunderstorm when he was struck by light. Shut your mouth. Shut your mouth. Shut up. What. Shut up. He was instantly killed.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Yes. What. Holy shit. The Boston Gazette Dave. He was instantly killed several persons were in the house at the time some of whom were violently affected by the shock but immediately recovered ran to Mr. Otis to support but he had already expired without a grown. What. OK. Look. Oh my god. How is that the ending. I want to talk for an hour now. Ending. OK. So it is the ending. Well OK. Ruth never changed her mind about being a loyalist. John Adams wrote that the revolution caught a cost Otis more than almost any man in the Patriot cause three months after his death the country fully earned its independence. OK. Great ending. I still can't get past what just happened. He Babe Ruth

the lightning. Fucking Babe Ruth lightning. He Babe Ruth lightning. Yeah. OK. Now. And either way this is amazing. Yeah. But was it totally random or he was out there because there's a storm and he's maybe from. I mean possibly even then but everything is so astronomical but it's not like he was just standing in the door. He might have been standing the doorway going man I wish I would get hit by this lightning and then it did hit him to have it happen in a doorway. I mean he is holding his cane so it's probably metal right fair. But even then he's not going to the field with his no no he's in the doorway in the door. I mean the lightning like he's lazy about the lightning hit the house and set on fire like it fucked

up the house. But then that's crazy. But no one else died. That's even if he attracted it I mean that is his last words were come to me baby. What. Wow. I mean. Yeah. I mean honestly if if that's how if you're like the kid and you see him and people are running to his side you're pretty much Keanu Reeves at the end of Point Break. Right. Yeah. Patrick Swayze is off on the wave and people are like well the rest of what he gets back and you're like he's not coming back. Let's go see if dad's all right. Trust me dad got what he wanted. Leave him be. So he's just a cook notice. Well it's crazy. So this was the this was the guy who basically threw his speeches kicked off the revolution. You've

never heard of him. No one's ever fucking heard of him. No. And then he was also clear that a mental issue and then it makes you wonder if the people that I mean are the people who really step out to make change who really do the thing that make the bold fucking move did some of them have a little bit something off. Maybe that's something that it takes. You know. I mean you know I think yeah I think a lot of times you know leaders or people who do cause change are people who are very flawed in ways that you know. Yeah. But but even still you know if you have a mental disease like the idea of you know doing something like that and and being such a big part of change I mean it's just it's almost more impressive.

Yeah. Because the idea that you have to kind of reset and if he was bipolar I mean that's just you know it's hard thing to maintain. Fuck yeah. But also I'm going to remember this guy as the guy who Babe Ruth flight. If that's OK. We sign lightning. Thank you.