<P> General writs of assistance played an important role in the increasing tensions that led to the American Revolution and the creation of the United States of America . In 1760, Great Britain began to enforce some of the provisions of the Navigation Acts by granting customs officers these writs . In New England, smuggling had become common . However, officers could not search a person's property without giving a reason . Colonists protested that the writs violated their rights as British subjects . The colonists had several problems with these writs . They were permanent and even transferable; the holder of a writ could assign it to another . Any place could be searched at the whim of the holder, and searchers were not responsible for any damage they caused . This put anyone who had such a writ above the laws . </P> <P> All writs of assistance expired six months after death of the king, at which time new writs had to be obtained . With the death of King George II in October 1760, all writs would expire on 25 April 1761 . The crisis began on 27 December 1760 when news of King George II's death reached Boston and the people of Massachusetts learned that all writs faced termination . </P> <P> Within three weeks, the writs were challenged by a group of 63 Boston merchants represented by fiery Boston attorney James Otis, Jr . A countersuit was filed by a British customs agent Paxton, and together these are known as "Paxton's case". Otis argued the famous writs of assistance case at the Old State House in Boston in February 1761 and again on 16 November 1761 . Although Otis technically lost, his challenge to the authority of Parliament made a strong impression on John Adams, who was present, and thereby eventually contributed to the American Revolution . In a pamphlet published three years later, in 1765, Otis expanded his argument that the general writs violated the British unwritten constitution hearkening back to Magna Carta . Any law in violation of the constitution or "natural law" which underlay it, was void . </P> <P> A writ of assistance was used in an incident known as the "Malcom Affair", which was described by legal scholar William Cuddihy as "the most famous search in colonial America ." The episode demonstrated a fundamental difference between the colonists' view of their rights and the official British view of imperial law . "The Malcom affair was a minor matter, a comedy of blundering revenue officers and barricaded colonials," wrote legal historian John Phillip Reid, "but were we to dismiss it in haste we might run the risk of dismissing much of the story of the American Revolution ." </P>

Who was involved in the writs of assistance