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Writ Of Assistance
A writ of assistance is a written order (a writ) issued by a court instructing a law enforcement official, such as a sheriff or a tax collector, to perform a certain task. Historically, several types of writs have been called "writs of assistance". Most often, a writ of assistance is "used to enforce an order for the possession of lands". When used to evict someone from real property, such a writ is also called a ''writ of restitution'' or a ''writ of possession''. In the area of customs, writs of assistance date from Colonial times. They were issued by the Court of Exchequer to help customs officials search for smuggled goods. These writs were called "writs of assistance" because they called upon sheriffs, other officials, and loyal subjects to "assist" the customs official in carrying out his duties. In general, customs writs of assistance served as general search warrants that did not expire, allowing customs officials to search anywhere for smuggled goods without having to ...
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Writ
In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrant (legal), Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, and ''certiorari'' are common types of writs, but many forms exist and have existed. In its earliest form, a writ was simply a written order made by the English monarch to a specified person to undertake a specified action; for example, in the Feudalism in England, feudal era, a military summons by the king to one of his tenant-in-chief, tenants-in-chief to appear dressed for battle with retinue at a specific place and time. An early usage survives in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia in a writ of election, which is a written order issued on behalf of the monarch (in Canada, by the Governor General of Canada, Governor General and, in Australia, by the Governor-General of Australia, Governor-General for elections for the House of Representatives, or state gove ...
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Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts, or more broadly the Acts of Trade and Navigation, were a series of English laws that developed, promoted, and regulated English ships, shipping, trade, and commerce with other countries and with its own colonies. The laws also regulated England's fisheries and restricted foreign—including Scottish and Irish—participation in its colonial trade. While based on earlier precedents, they were first enacted in 1650 and 1651 under the Commonwealth. The system was re-enacted and broadened with the Restoration by the Navigation Act 1660, and further developed and tightened by the Navigation Acts of 1663, 1673, and 1696. Upon this basis during the 18th century, the acts were modified by subsequent amendments, changes, and the addition of enforcement mechanisms and staff. Additionally, a major change in the very purpose of the acts in the 1760s—that of generating a colonial revenue, rather than only regulating the Empire's trade—would help lead to major rebell ...
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John Hancock
John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot of the American Revolution. He was the longest-serving President of the Continental Congress, president of the Continental Congress, having served as the second president of the Second Continental Congress and the seventh president of the Congress of the Confederation. He was the first and third governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. His large and stylish Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, signature on the United States Declaration of Independence led to or becoming a colloquialism for a person's signature. He also signed the Articles of Confederation, and used his influence to ensure that Massachusetts ratified the United States Constitution in 1788. Before the American Revolution, Hancock was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies, having inherited a p ...
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Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet
Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet (bapt. 12 July 1712 – 16 June 1779) was a British colonial administrator who served as governor of the provinces of New Jersey and Massachusetts Bay. His uncompromising policies and harsh tactics in Massachusetts angered the colonists and were instrumental in the building of broad-based opposition within the province to the rule of Parliament in the events leading to the American Revolution. Appointed governor of New Jersey in 1758, he oversaw the province's participation in the later years of the French and Indian War, and had a generally positive relationship with its legislature. In 1760 he was given the governorship of Massachusetts, where he had a stormy relationship with the assembly. Early actions turned the colony's populists against him, and his responses to protests against Parliament's attempts to tax the colonies deepened divisions. After protests against the Townshend Acts in 1768, Bernard sought British Army troops be stationed ...
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Patriot (American Revolution)
Patriots (also known as Revolutionaries, Continentals, Rebels, or Whigs) were colonists in the Thirteen Colonies who opposed the Kingdom of Great Britain's control and governance during the colonial era and supported and helped launch the American Revolution that ultimately established American independence. Patriot politicians led colonial opposition to British policies regarding the American colonies, eventually building support for the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted unanimously by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. After the American Revolutionary War began the year before, in 1775, many patriots assimilated into the Continental Army, which was commanded by George Washington and which ultimately secured victory against the British Army, leading the British to end their involvement in the war and acknowledge the sovereign independence of the colonies, reflected in the Treaty of Paris, which led to the establishment of the Un ...
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Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were refugee colonists from Thirteen Colonies, thirteen of the 20 British American colonies who remained loyal to the British Crown, British crown during the American Revolution, often referred to as Tories, Royalists, or King's Men at the time. They were opposed by the Patriot (American Revolution), Patriots or Whigs, who supported the revolution and considered them "persons inimical to the liberties of America." Prominent Loyalists repeatedly assured the Government of the United Kingdom, British government that many thousands of them would spring to arms and fight for the Crown. The British government acted in expectation of that, especially during the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War, Southern campaigns of 1780 and 1781. Britain was able to effectively protect the people only in areas where they had military control, thus the number of military Loyalists was significantly lower than what had been expected. Loyalists were often under suspicion of t ...
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Natural Law
Natural law (, ) is a Philosophy, philosophical and legal theory that posits the existence of a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason. In ethics, natural law theory asserts that certain rights and moral values are inherent in human nature and can be understood universally, independent of enacted laws or societal norms. In jurisprudence, natural law—sometimes referred to as iusnaturalism or jusnaturalism, but not to be confused with what is called simply ''naturalism'' in legal philosophy—holds that there are objective legal standards based on morality that underlie and inform the creation, interpretation, and application of human-made laws. This contrasts with ''positive law'' (as in legal positivism), which emphasizes that laws are rules created by human authorities and are not necessarily connected to moral principles. Natural law can refer to "theories of ethics, theories of politics, theories of civil ...
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Magna Carta
(Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Stephen Langton, to make peace between the unpopular king and a group of rebel barons who demanded that the King confirm the Charter of Liberties, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift and impartial justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons. Neither side stood by their commitments, and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III, leading to the First Barons' War. After John's death, the regency government of his young son, Henry III, reissued the document in 1216, stripped of some of its more radical content, in an unsuccessful bid to build political support for their cause. At the end of th ...
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John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved independence from Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain. During the latter part of the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War and in the early years of the new nation, he served the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government as a senior diplomat in Europe. Adams was the first person to hold the office of vice president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. He was a dedicated diarist and regularly corresponded with important contemporaries, including his wife and adviser Abigail Adams and his friend and political rival Thomas Jefferson. A lawyer and political activist prior to the Revolution, Adams was devoted to the right to counsel and presumption of innocence. He de ...
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Rights Of Englishmen
The "rights of Englishmen" are the traditional rights of English subjects and later English-speaking subjects of the The Crown, British Crown. In the 18th century, some of the Patriot (American Revolution), colonists who objected to British rule in the Thirteen Colonies, thirteen British North American colonies that would become the first United States argued that their traditional rights as Englishmen were being violated. The colonists wanted and expected the rights that they (or their forebears) had previously enjoyed in England: a local, representative government, with regards to judicial matters (some colonists were being sent back to England for trials) and particularly with regards to taxation. Belief in these rights subsequently became a widely accepted justification for the American Revolution. Historical background In the tradition of Whig history, Judge William Blackstone called them "The absolute rights of every Englishman". He described the ''Fundamental Laws o ...
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Old State House (Boston)
The Old State House, also known as the Old Provincial State House,Old provincial state house; maintenance and preservation - () is a historic building in Boston, Massachusetts, built in 1713. It was the seat of the Massachusetts General Court until 1798. It is located at the intersection of Washington Street (Boston), Washington and State Street (Boston), State Streets and is one of the oldest public buildings in the United States. It is one of the landmarks on Boston's Freedom Trail and is the oldest surviving public building in Boston. It now serves as a history museum that was operated by the Bostonian Society through 2019. On January 1, 2020, the Bostonian Society merged with the Old South Association in Boston to form Revolutionary Spaces. The Old State House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission in 1994. History The Massachusetts Town House: seat of colony government 1713–1776 The previous building w ...
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James Otis Jr
James Otis Jr. (February 5, 1725 – May 23, 1783) was an American lawyer, politician, and activist who was early supporter of patriotic causes in Province of Massachusetts Bay at the beginning of the American Revolution. Otis was a fervent opponent of the writs of assistance introduced in 1761 which allowed law enforcement officials to search private property without cause. He later criticized British plans to introduce new taxes in the Thirteen Colonies. As a result, Otis is often credited with coining the slogan "taxation without representation is tyranny". Otis was a mentor to Samuel Adams, and his oratorical style inspired John Adams. He is recognized by some as a Founding Father due to his efforts leading up to the Revolutionary War. However, Otis was plagued by mental illness and alcoholism, and his erratic behavior had rendered him inconsequential and embarrassing to the cause by the early 1770s. Early life Otis was born in West Barnstable, Massachusetts, the second of 1 ...
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