William Samuel Johnson (October 7, 1727 – November 14, 1819) was an American Founding Father and statesman. He attended all of the four founding American Congresses: the Stamp Act Congress in 1765, the

Congress of the Confederation The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States from March 1, 1781, until March 3, 1789, during the Confederation ...

in 1785–1787, the United States Constitutional Convention in 1787 where he was chairman of the Committee of Style that drafted the final version of the United States Constitution, and as a senator from Connecticut in the first

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

in 1789-1791. He also served as the third president of Columbia University (then known as Columbia College).

Early life

William Samuel Johnson was born in

Stratford, Connecticut Stratford is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is situated on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River. The town is part of the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, Connecticut, Greater Bri ...

, on October 7, 1727, to

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, a well-known Anglican clergyman, educator, and later president of King's College, and Johnson's first wife, Charity Floyd Nicoll. Johnson received his primary education from his father who ran a small Stratford Academy boarding students. He then graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1744, winning the George Berkely Scholarship. He went on to receive a master's degree from Yale in 1747 and an honorary degree from Harvard the same year. He would later receive an honorary master's from King's College in 1761 and a Doctorate of Law from Oxford in 1766.

Career

Although his father urged him to enter the clergy, Johnson decided instead to pursue a legal career. Self-educated in the law, he quickly developed an important clientele and established business connections extending beyond the boundaries of his native colony and was frequently consulted on inter-colony legal issues. He also held a commission in the Connecticut colonial militia for over 20 years, rising from ensign to the rank of colonel. He served in the lower house (1761 and 1765) and the upper house (1766 and 1771–1775) of the Connecticut Legislature. Johnson was first attracted to the Patriot cause by what he and his associates considered

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

's unwarranted interference in the government of the colonies. At this time he was somewhat of a radical, writing about “chains and shackles,” “stamps and slavery,” and the “late fatal acts” that would reduce America to “Roman provinces in the time of the Caesar.” He started forming alliances with the Connecticut Son's of Liberty and working against the re-election of Loyalist Governor Thomas Fitch. He was elected one of three delegates from Connecticut to the Stamp Act Congress, where in 1765 he served on the committee defining the rights of British Colonists arguing the right of the colonies to decide tax policies for themselves. According to his biographer Beardsley, Johnson "was a guiding and controlling spirit in the Assembly." He authored the seminal ''Report of Committee at Congress on Colonia Rights,'' that evolved into the '' Stamp Act Declaration of Rights and Grievances,'' the final version of which is in his hand. He was also on the committee that authored the ''Petition to the King''. The declaration, petitions, and pressure from London merchants forced Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act in 1766. But that year, Connecticut faced a new problem with a seventy year old unsettled legal case involving Mohegan Indians lands. The British wanted to use the case as a pretext to cancel Connecticut's Royal Charter of 1662. Johnson agreed to become a special Colonial Agent to fight the case. Johnson left his family, his political career, and his legal practice to argue in London for Connecticut's charter, where he lived from 1767 to 1771.

American Revolution

While a Colonial Agent he sharply criticized British policy toward the colonies. His experience in Britain convinced him that Britain's policy was shaped more by ignorance of American conditions, not through the sinister designs of a wicked government, as many Patriots alleged. As the Patriots became more radical in their demands, Johnson found it difficult to commit himself wholeheartedly to the cause. Although he believed British policy unwise, he found it difficult to break his own connections with the mother country. A scholar of international renown, he had many friends in Britain and among the British and American Loyalists. The English author

said of him, "Of all those whom the various accidents of life have brought within my notice, there is scarce anyone whose acquaintance I have more desired to cultivate than yours." He was also bound to Britain by religious and professional ties. He enjoyed close associations with the

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

in England and with the scholarly community at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, which awarded him an honorary degree in 1766. Fearing the consequences of independence for both the colonies and the mother country, Johnson sought to avoid extremism and to reach a compromise on the outstanding political differences between the protagonists. However, his court case against the British government that was supposed to take a few months was dragged out for five years, during which time he was away from his family, lost his law firm's clients, and received little thanks, little reward, and endured criticism for his association with the British. He returned home late in 1771, just in time to spend three months with his father before he died. He was appointed a member of the colony's

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

(1772–1774). He was elected as a delegate in 1774 to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

but turned down the honor in favor of his protégée

Roger Sherman Roger Sherman (April 19, 1721 – July 23, 1793) was an early American politician, lawyer, and a Founding Father of the United States. He is the only person to sign all four great state papers of the United States: the Continental Association, ...

. The Connecticut assembly, after the

Battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...

, over his strong personal objections, sent him on a dangerous visit through both Patriot Massachusetts militia and British army lines in Boston to the British commander General Thomas Gage to negotiate an end to the fighting by making a separate peace with the British. He succeeded, but on returning back across the lines again to Connecticut, he found the Assembly had changed their mind, voted for war, then adjourned, leaving no instructions for Johnson. Even after the ''Declaration of Independence'', he believed that the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

was not necessary and that independence would be bad for everyone concerned. He retired from the Assembly, and from his law practice. In July, 1779, after Tryon's raid on the Connecticut shoreline burnt down the towns of Fairfield and Norwalk, the panicking citizens of Stratford begged him to intercede with General Tyron and save their town. He declined to undertake yet another dangerous mission he opposed, but a town meeting was called and resolutions were passed insisting he should visit Tyron. A committee was appointed to accompany him, and a subscription paper implying Johnson supported the peace effort was printed without Johnson's approval. The paper was seized on by his political enemies, leading to his arrest for communicating with the enemy, but the charges were soon dropped.

New nation

Once independence was achieved, Johnson felt free to participate in the government of the new nation. He resumed the practice of his profession, and some time subsequent to the declaration of peace was reinstated in his old office as a member of the Upper House of the General Assembly, where he also served as a legal counsel for Connecticut in its dispute with Pennsylvania over western lands (1779-80). He was appointed as a delegate to the

(1785–1787). His influence there was recognized by his contemporaries. Jeremiah Wadsworth wrote of him to a friend, "Dr. Johnson has, I believe, much more influence than either you or myself. The Southern Delegates are vastly fond of him." In 1785, the

Vermont Republic The Vermont Republic, officially known at the time as the State of Vermont, was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The state was founded in January 1777, when delegates from 28 towns met ...

granted Johnson a town in the former King's College Tract in thanks for representing the interests of Vermont before the Congress of the Confederation. The town of

Johnson, Vermont Johnson is a town in Lamoille County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,491 at the 2020 census. The town is home to Northern Vermont University-Johnson, a part the Vermont State Colleges system. The Vermont Studio Center is loc ...

; the former Johnson State College; and Johnson Stree

in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

, bear his name.

Constitutional Convention

In 1787, Johnson played a major role as one of the

Philadelphia Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. While the convention was initially intended to revise the league of states and devise the first system of federal government under the Articles of Conf ...

's delegates. His eloquent speeches on the subject of representation carried great weight during the debate. He looked to a strong federal government to protect the rights of Connecticut and the other small states from encroachment by their more powerful neighbors. He supported the New Jersey Plan, which called for equal representation of the states in the national legislature. In general, he favored extension of federal authority. He argued that the judicial power "ought to extend to equity as well as law" (the words "in law and equity" were adopted at his motion). He denied that there could be treason against a separate state since sovereignty was "in the Union." He opposed prohibition of any

ex post facto law An ''ex post facto'' law is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences or status of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, before the enactment of the law. In criminal law, it may criminalize actions that were ...

, which made an act a criminal offense retroactively, because he considered that such a prohibition implied "an improper suspicion of the National Legislature." Johnson was influential even in the final stages of framing the Constitution. He gave his fullest support to the

Connecticut Compromise The Connecticut Compromise, also known as the Great Compromise of 1787 or Sherman Compromise, was an agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation each state ...

, which foreshadowed the final Great Compromise, with a national legislature with a Senate that provided equal representation for all states and a House of Representatives based on population. He also served on and chaired the five-member Committee of Style, which framed the final form of the document. In her 1966 book, '' Miracle at Philadelphia'', Catherine Drinker Bowen calls Johnson "the perfect man to preside over these four masters of argument and political strategy .e. fellow committee members Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris">Alexander_Hamilton.html" ;"title=".e. fellow committee members Alexander Hamilton">.e. fellow committee members Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, and Rufus King].... His presence on the committee must have been reassuring; the doctor's quiet manner disarmed."Bowen, p.235 of the 1986 edition

References

Sources

* * * Graff, Nancy Price. ''Visible Layers of Time: A Perspective on the History and Architecture of Johnson Vermont.'' The University of Vermont, Historic Preservation Program: 1990. * McCaughey, Elizabeth P. "William Samuel Johnson, The Loyal Whig" in William M. Fowler Jr. and Wallace Coyle, eds. ''American Revolution: Changing Perspectives'' (1979), pp. 69–102 * Beardsley, E. Edwards
''Life and Times of William Samuel Johnson, LL.D.'' (1876)
* Groce Jr., George C
"William Samuel Johnson A Maker of the Constitution" (1967)

External links

* *
William Samuel Johnson: A Maker of the Constitution
', 1937 biography in

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format {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, William Samuel 1727 births 1819 deaths People from Stratford, Connecticut People from colonial Connecticut Signers of the United States Constitution Pro-Administration Party United States senators from Connecticut Politicians from Bridgeport, Connecticut Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court Colonial agents of the British Empire Military personnel from Bridgeport, Connecticut Yale College alumni Columbia University faculty Presidents of Columbia University United States senators who owned slaves Founding Fathers of the United States Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Members of the Connecticut General Assembly Council of Assistants (1662–1818) 18th-century United States senators