Commentary
The other essays in the “Founders and the Constitution” series each covered one individual. This final essay covers three: the extraordinary group who served as Connecticut’s commissioners (delegates) to the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
Early Connecticut was known as “the land of steady habits.” The nickname reflected the state’s culture. The people of Connecticut tended to be religious, sober, hardworking, self-controlled, and moderate. William Samuel Johnson, Oliver Ellsworth, and Roger Sherman were excellent representatives of that culture.
On the contemporaneous political spectrum (outlined in the first essay), all three were centrists—that is, moderates. More than any other state delegation, they shared common goals. And more than any other state delegation, they worked in a coordinated fashion to achieve those common goals….