Taxation without representation is tyranny.
Attributed in John Adams, Letter toWilliam Tudor, 29 Mar. 1818. This maxim, which is often quoted as the rallying cry for the American Revolution, has been attributed to Otis's argument against the writs of assistance before the Superior Court of Massachusetts in February 1761. However, there is no contemporary record of Otis using these words. John Adams, in describing the event fifty-seven years later, referred in his letter to Tudor to "Mr Otis's maxim, that 'taxation without representation w