William Johnson

"As a contact who knows the land and its people, he's probably the best you'll find."

- Shaun about Johnson in the Database

William Johnson (1715 - 1774) was an official of the British Empire and a member of the Templar Order, who initially moved to the  to manage an estate purchased by his uncle, Admiral Peter Warren, which was located amidst the Mohawk. During the Seven Years' War, Johnson commanded and colonial militia forces. Johnson also assisted in keeping Native Americans committed to the interests of the British.

During a meeting with several clan leaders, Johnson was assassinated by the Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton.

Early life
Born to Catholic parents, Johnson learned at a young age that his opportunities were limited if things did not change. After converting to Protestantism sometime in 1738, he left his birth country of Ireland to live in Colonial America with his uncle, Admiral Peter Warren. He left however, to live on his own, after he was unable to convince his uncle to build on his trading routes with the Kanien'kehá:ka, which would severely drop profits.

With what money he had obtained, Johnson bought a plot of land, built a mill, house, store, and farm on a major point in the trade route, calling the area Mount Johnson. From humble beginnings, his placement along the Mohawk River quickly made him wealthy and among the nobles of the Colonies. In 1743 he moved once more, and obtained a much larger parcel of land, which he named Fort Johnson. During the interval time, he became close in relations with the Kanien'kehá:ka, learning their language and eventually becoming the liaison between the Iroquois and the British Government.

The Seven Years' War
Sometime in 1754, Johnson officially became a Templar Conspirator, the first man that Haytham Kenway began working with of high ranking in the Colonies. When they met, Johnson's research had been stolen by a band of mercenaries that were in association with enemies to the Templar Order. At the time, Johnson's right hand man was Thomas Hickey, a black-market dealer and smuggler of information. Hickey was the one that had successfully located Johnson's work in the nearby fort.

After Haytham, Charles Lee, and Hickey infiltrated the area and brought the information back, Johnson began his search for the precursor site. Having Hickey rent them rooms in the Green Dragon Tavern, he spoke with native contacts but was unsuccessful in his search. while Haytham went on to find his other co-conspirators, Johnson continued his other line of duty with the war.

During the Seven Years' War, Johnson was not only a land owner and negotiator, but a recruiter and leader of Iroquois fighters throughout the war's timespan. As an individual, he partook in only one battle, but in the process was rewarded a Baronetcy and even more money. He also remained in close connection with the Kanien'kehá:ka as before, and was donated more than 300 square kilometers as a thanks.

During the Templar raid on Southgate Fort, Johnson assisted in killing many of the men in the slave convoy as well as guards posted at the checkpoints to the actual fort. Inside, he worked to keep slight attention away from Haytham by conversing with some of the soldiers in his British Regular disguise. Following the freeing of the slaves and the discovery of the perpetrators, Johnson fought alongside Hickey, Lee, Benjamin Church, and John Pitcairn to allow Haytham to defeat Silas Thatcher. Afterwards, he went back to his duties with the Iroquois, falling out while Lee and Haytham continued their search for the Storehouse.

Nearly a year later, on July 9, 1755, Johnson went with his co-conspirators on the ambush against the Braddock Expedition. Following the quick assist in slaughtering some of the scouts for disguises, he worked from the inside when the Native Americans and French began their attack. After Haytham assassinated Edward Braddock, Johnson left with everyone and back to his duties.

Treaty of Fort Stanwix and Boston Tea Party
In 1768, Johnson negotiated the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, 'burning bridges' in the process. In his treaty, he took far more Native American land than the British had asked him to get. It became a windfall for him, despite his ability to speculate on it, because the selling of the land was difficult with the Natives. Eventually, the treaty caused a small war, known as Dunmore's War. In order to keep himself in his good positions, Johnson attempted to make more negotiations at Johnson Hall in 1774, strangely attempting to purchase more land.

A year before these second set of negotiations though, Johnson had been gathering funds illegally with the help of Hickey's black-market connections. With the smuggling of British tea, which was being heavily taxed at the time, Johnson was enriching himself. By selling the smuggled tea crates through his contacts, he was slightly lowering money given to the British Government, while increasing the money he received. At the same time, he had his men go throughout the city of Boston as tax-collectors, stopping at people's houses and gathering more money from the civilians. One of these civilians was Stephane Chapheau, who later became an Assassin and killed one of Johnson's correspondents.

Knowing what Johnson was doing, the Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton assisted Paul Revere and William Molineux in throwing the tea over the ships and into the ocean. This would cut Johnson's supply line for his funding, forcing him to find a different way to purchase Kanatahséton, which was the area he was attempting to gather for the Templars. During those events he watched from the docks with Charles Lee.

Death
At Johnson Hall, atop the cliff in John's Town, Johnson met with the Iroquois leaders under the protection of his mercenaries and several British Regulars to make his negotiations to buy the land. Eventually, when he discovered that his attempts were failing, he threatened the leaders with murder, hoping that they would then listen. Connor, who had infiltrated the area, silently sneaked to the top of Johnson's manor, jumped down and assassinated him before he could kill any of the Iroquois Clan Leaders.

Legacy
As a high-ranked member of the Colonial Templar Order, Johnson was one of the men that helped the group grow into its position of power before the American Revolutionary War. That same war was started because of a major impact on his part, specifically his work with the Boston tea and taxes. Since the colonists partook in the Boston Tea Party, the British Government was forced to relay a huge level of other taxes and regulations to keep the people in check as well as help the income, something that was known as the Cohesive Acts, or Intolerable Acts. In the long run, these huge tax increases and the closing of Boston Harbor were a major reason that the Colonists started their war for independence. Even before this though, Johnson was a major contributor to both the Seven Years' War and Connor's involvement with the Assassins. While he assisted the Iroquois and British Regulars in the war, he was partly responsible for the death of Edward Braddock. With Connor, Johnson was heavily responsible for the boy learning who Lee was, since he was the one that had found Connor in the first place. In the long run too, he was the initial threat the caused Connor to go through and assassinate the other conspirators, since the Assassin had discovered his letter to Pitcairn.

Personality and characteristics
Throughout his life, Johnson consistently gave out the etiquette of a noble, but unlike his leader, was relatively well-mannered to everyone, even in difficult situations. When speaking with the Iroquois leaders before his death, he still retained a sort of kindness despite giving off death-threats. When first meeting Connor as a boy, despite his actions being violent, he was attempting to help ease the pain that the boy was feeling.

In most cases, he was also a very calm individual, not taking difficult times into much fear or irritation, just simply embracing them. Even when throwing out insults and threats, he never raised his voice nor show displays of altered concentration. This was probably the evidence of his abilities to negotiate, since the skill has the feature as a practical requirement.

As a younger man, he wasn't far different from the way he was at death, perhaps more corrupted as the only lack of similarity. Older, he was still well-mannered and calm, speaking intelligently and focusing on his businesses. His actions though, slightly grew to show more his wicked intentions to steal lands and assist his associates.

Equipment and skills
Johnson could easily be seen as an intelligent man among the crowd, fluent in difficult arithmetical workings and negotiation and even common sense. He was probably a fast learner as well, able to become fluent in the language of the Kanien'kehá:ka as well as their culture and inner-workings. At the same time, he was a very persuasive speaker and negotiator in certain terms, and was able to get things with this fashion if necessary. For weaponry, Johnson was well-informed on the skills of swordplay, having his own for personal purposes such as the attack on Southgate Fort.

Final words

 * Johnson: Ah, no. What have you done?
 * Connor: Ensured an end to your schemes. You sought to claim these lands for the Templars...
 * Johnson: Aye. That we might PROTECT them! Do you think good King George lies awake at night hoping that no harm comes to his native subjects? Or that the people of the city care one whit about them? Oh, sure, the colonists are happy to trade when they need food or shelter or a bit of extra padding for their armies. But when the walls of the city constrict - when there's crops that need soil - when there's... when there's no more enemy to fight - we'll see how kind the people are then.
 * Connor: The colonists have no quarrel with the Iroquois.
 * Johnson: Not yet. But they will. 'Tis the way of the world. In time, they'll turn. I... I could have stopped it. I could have saved you all...
 * Connor: You speak of salvation, but you were killing them.
 * Johnson: Aye. Because they would not listen! And so, it seems, neither will you...
 * Connor: May the Faceless One grant you the peace you claimed to seek.

Trivia

 * According to records, Johnson died of a stroke. In the Animus Database, Shaun said that it was probably better politically, since he had been threatening the tribal leaders that were associated with the British.
 * From the beginning of Assassin's Creed to his death, Johnson's appearance changes very little as he ages in comparison to his co-conspirators.
 * If one were to attack Johnson head-on in the mission Hostile Negotiations, he would believe Connor to be someone that was working for the clan leaders, saying it was foolish for them to have one of their own attack him.
 * He would also say it occasionally if one attacked from above, even if they were unnoticed.
 * Despite being a Templar, Johnson was displayed with an Assassin's Insignia during the raid of Southgate, just as his other co-conspirators.

Reference
Assassin's Creed III