This work and Hamilton's eloquence before the New York
convention for ratification helped to carry the day for the Constitution
and to terminate a period of dissension which was tending toward anarchy.
THE ORATORS
There are times in the history of a nation when there is unusual need for
the orator to persuade, to arouse, and to encourage his countrymen. Many
influential colonists disapproved of the Revolution; they wrote against it
and talked against it. When the war progressed slowly, entailing not only
severe pecuniary loss but also actual suffering to the revolutionists, many
lost their former enthusiasm and were willing to have peace at any price.
At this period in our history the orator was as necessary as the soldier.
Orators helped to launch the Revolution, to continue the war, and, after it
was finished, to give the country united constitutional government. It will
be instructive to make the acquaintance of some of these orators and to
learn the secret of their power.
JAMES OTIS (1725-1783) was born in Massachusetts and educated at Harvard.
He studied literature for two years after he graduated and then became a
lawyer. He was appointed to the position of king's advocate-general, a
high-salaried office.
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