Johnson, William Samuel (1727–1819)

• Author: Dennis J. Mahoney
• Pages: 1433-1434

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Dr. William Samuel Johnson signed the Constitution as a Connecticut delegate to the CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1787. A lawyer and educator, he had already served his state as a legislator and judge. Johnson, a conciliator respected by all delegates, formally proposed the Connecticut Compromise (GREAT COMPROMISE). He also proposed the words defining the extent of the JUDICIAL POWER OF THE UNITED STATES, inserting the key phrase, "all cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States," and he chaired the Committee on Style. Johnson helped keep the Convention from dissolving in the heat of factional

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dispute. He was later a United States senator (1789?1791).

DENNIS J. MAHONEY

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