William Samuel Johnson

William Samuel Johnson

William Samuel Johnson (born October 7, 1727 in Stratford , Colony of Connecticut , colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain , † November 14, 1819 in Stratford, Connecticut , United States ) was a politician and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States .

Samuel Johnson was well educated and his legal knowledge led him to oppose taxation without representation as a violation of the colonists' right to be citizens of England. But his strong ties to Great Britain made a rejection of the king seem impossible to him personally. Torn between the opposing loyalties, he remained neutral during the American independence movement and only spoke out against extremism on both sides. Only when George III. Having accepted American independence, Johnson felt relieved of his obligations and devoted his significant intellectual skills to strengthening the new nation. His fellow delegate William Pierce said of him, “Johnson has the manners of a gentleman and he touches the hearts of men with the sweetness of his disposition and the tender manner with which he speaks to his acquaintances ... eloquent and clear, always connected with information and Advice, ... [it is] one of the first classics in America. "

Career before the Constitutional Congress

Johnson was a well-known person even before the independence movement. The son of a well-known Anglican clergyman and later president of the Royal Columbia College , Johnson received his first class at home. He graduated from Yale College in 1744 and received his master's degree from his alma mater in 1747 (as well as an honorary degree from Harvard in the same year). Although his father suggested he become a clergyman, Johnson opted for a legal career instead. As an autodidact in legal matters, he quickly developed an important clientele and established business relationships beyond the borders of his home colony. He also served in the Connecticut Colonial Militia for over 20 years, advancing to colonel. He served in the House of Commons of the Connecticut Legislature in 1761 and 1765 and in the House of Lords in 1766 and 1771–75. He was also a member of the Colony's Supreme Court from 1772 to 1774.

Johnson was first drawn to the Patriots' case by what he and his partners called the unauthorized interference of Parliament in the government of the colonies. He attended the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 and served on the committee drafting a letter to the king referring to the colonies' right to decide tax matters for themselves. He opposed the Townsend Acts , passed by Parliament in 1767 to fund the French and Indian War, and supported the import freeze agreements passed by the colonies to protest against unrepresentative taxation.

As the Patriots became more radical in their demands for independence, Johnson found it difficult to wholeheartedly indulge the case. Though he believed British politics were unwise, he found it difficult to sever his own ties with the motherland. An international academic, he had many friends in Britain and among American loyalists. As the famous English author Samuel Johnson said of him, "Of all whom I have come to know through the various vicissitudes of life, there are few whom I wish to become more deeply acquainted with than yours." It was also through religious and professional connections bound to Great Britain. He had close ties with the Anglican Church in England and the Oxford Academic Society , which honored him with an honorary degree in 1766. He lived in London from 1767 to 1771, where he acted as a representative for Connecticut in its attempt to establish its claims to Indian land.

Concerned about the consequences of independence for colonies as well as the mother country, Johnson tried to avoid extremism and to reach a compromise for the outstanding political differences between the protagonists. He turned down his election to the First Continental Congress , a move that was heavily criticized by the patriots, who subsequently removed him from his command post in the militia. He was also heavily criticized when seeking an end to the fighting after the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord , he personally visited the British commander, General Thomas Gage . This incident resulted in his being arrested for sharing information with the enemy, but the charges were eventually dropped.

Johnson's activities for peace never seem to have damaged his reputation. He served as Connecticut's legal advisor during the western lands dispute with Pennsylvania from 1779-80, and was nominated by Joseph Reed , President of the Philadelphia College, later the University of Pennsylvania , to succeed him as head of the college.

When independence was achieved, Johnson felt free enough to take part in the new nation's government. He worked in the Continental Congress from 1785–87. His influence as a delegate received a lot of attention from his contemporaries. Jeremiah Wadsworth wrote about him to a friend: “Dr. Johnson is more influential than you and me, I think. The delegates from the south were very fond of him. "

Contributions to the Constitutional Congress

Johnson starred as one of the most important and respected delegates to Congress. His eloquent speeches on representation carried great weight during the debate. He was for a strong federal government to protect the rights of Connecticut and the other small states from encroachment by their more powerful neighbors. Ultimately, he supported the so-called New Jersey Plan, which provided for equal representation of the states in the national legislature.

In general, he preferred an extension of federal authority. He argued that legal power "should make room for justice as well as justice" (the words "in law and justice" have been adopted in his sense) or, in other words, that the rigors of law should be softened through fairness. He denied the possibility of treason against a single state because the sovereignty belonged to the federal government and he was against the prohibition of any “ ex post facto ” law, i.e. a law that retrospectively declared an act to be a criminal act, because so a ban is subject to "an unreasonable suspicion of national legislation".

Johnson also influenced the final edits of the constitution. He wholeheartedly supported the Connecticut Compromise, a forerunner of the final Grand Compromise, which established national legislation with a Senate that gave all states equal representation and a House of Representatives that was based on the population. He also worked on the drafting committee that designed the final form of the document.

Career after the Constitutional Congress

Johnson played an active role in Connecticut's ratification process, emphasizing the benefits that this constitution would bring to the small states. He was particularly proud of the legal clauses in the document, in which “the power to be used is the energy of the law; and this power should only be felt by those people who fail in their duty to their country. "

As one of the first Senators for Connecticut from 1789 to 1791, Johnson played an active role in the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789 , which laid down the details of the federal judicial system. He also supported Hamilton's laws designed to strengthen the role of the executive branch in federal government, but voted against giving the president the power to dismiss cabinet members without the approval of the Senate. Johnson became president of Columbia College in 1787. Although he had drawn the lot for the longer term of six years after the election in 1788 , he resigned on March 8, 1791, when the federal government moved from New York to Philadelphia after the end of the first Congress in order to maintain the position at the school to be able to. Roger Sherman was elected to succeed him for the remainder of the term .

Web links

• Origin of the article adapted from the US military's public domain text: http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/RevWar/ss/bedford.htm

Commons : William Samuel Johnson  - Album containing pictures, videos and audio files

literature

• Dictionary of American Biography; Groce, GC William Samuel Johnson: A Maker of the Constitution. New York: Columbia University Press, 1937
• McCaughey, Elizabeth. William Samuel Johnson, Loyalist and Founding Father. New York: Columbia University Press, 1980.

Individual evidence

1. ^ JOHNSON, William Samuel, (1727--1819) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed November 25, 2019