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History Of The Writs Of Assistance Essay

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When discussing the Writs of Assistance, we must first understand why they were created and why James Otis believed they were infringing upon citizens’ basic rights. Writs of Assistance were first authorized by English Parliament and King Charles II in 1660, which later was issued by Exchequer of Pleas, a court in England that dealt with cases surrounding the principles of natural and common law. Writs of Assistance were used in both English and colonial governments at the time, and were created to grant law enforcement officials the right to search homes suspected of holding smuggled goods without the need for a warrant. A Writ of Assistance was commonly called a writ of restitution or a writ of possession depending on the need for the writ, whether it be a eviction or a search for goods. During the time that Charles II served as king of england, the legality of Writ of Assistance was questioned in 1761, during the attempted renewal of the law. Although the Revolutionary war did not start until 1775, the Writ of Assistance law that allowed general warrants in the colonies played a major role in the disagreements …show more content…

Although he allowed the search, they were not authorized to open a locked cellar in which they forcefully entered. A protest formed outside his home due to the unlawful forced entry which represented a clear example of the colonists beliefs of their rights contrary to the beliefs Great Britain accumulates on imperial law. The colonists believed that british policies enforced in Writ of assistance were violating basic principles that outlined constitutional government. The very definition of constitutional government is a government with a constitution. To have an adequate constitutional government the colonists believed in the distribution of power between the executive, judicial and legislative branch and maintaining

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