Critical Thinking Exercise: Identifying Violations of Rights
Each of the following situations is based on the experiences of colonists in America. Each contains at least one British violation of a right that Americans thought they should have. If you had been an American colonist of the time, what rights would you claim on the basis of such experiences?
1. Your name is William Bradford. You have been arrested and your press in Philadelphia destroyed for printing an article criticizing the deputy governor. In the article you said the governor was like "a large cocker spaniel about five foot five."
2. Your name is Mary Strong. You have lived in Charlestown most of your life and have strong opinions about how Massachusetts is being governed. Whenever you speak your mind too freely, you find yourself arrested and put in an iron device that fits over your head like a mask to prevent you from talking.
3. Your name is Elsbeth Merrill. While baking bread this afternoon and awaiting the return of your husband, an agent of the king arrived to inform you that four British soldiers will be quartered in your home.
4. Your name is Lemuel Adams and you have a warehouse full of goods near Boston harbor. the king's magistrate gives British officials a writ of assistance that enables them to search all the homes, stores, and warehouse by the harbor to look for evidence of smuggling.
5. Your name is James Otis. You represent colonists who have been imprisoned and are being denied their right to trial by a jury of people from their own communities. You argue that to deny a person his traditional rights as an Englishman is illegal because it violates the principles of the British constitution. The royal magistrate denies your request and sends the prisoners to England for a trial.