Persons of Interest: John Jay
There are those who believe that the men who served as President of the Continental Congress following the signing of the Declaration of Independence should be considered to have been President of the United States, and if so, then John Jay is more than a "person of interest". But even though he is not counted among the number of Presidents, he led an interesting life never the less. John Jay was a founding father, a prominent diplomat, and the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was also one of the first and most prominent advocates against slavery at a time when this was a courageous and enlightened point of view.
John Jays came from a prominent merchant family in New York City. His ancestors had come to New York to escape religious persecution in France. John Jay was born on December 12, 1745, in New York City. His family moved to Rye, New York when John was a child and he was home schooled by his mother until he was eight years old, when he was sent to New Rochelle to study under an Anglican priest named Pierre Stoupe for three years before returning to homeschooling. In 1760, Jay attended King's College where he made many friends with whom his life would intertwine politically.
In 1768, Jay was admitted to the bar of New York, Jay and established a legal practice. He opened his own law office in 1771. He served as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in 1774. At first he was one of the group that wanted to negotiate resolution of contentious issues with the British Parliament, but subsequent events such as the burning of Norfolk, Virginia, by British troops in January 1776 pushed Jay into the camp of those calling for independence. When the Revolutionary War began, he joined the revolutionary cause and was an ardent Patriot.
On April 28, 1774, Jay married Sarah Van Brugh Livingston, daughter of the New Jersey Governor William Livingston. Sarah was seventeen years old and John was twenty-eight. He inherited land from his grandparents and built Bedford House, located near Katonah, New York.
John Jay was a slaveholder, like many wealthy New Yorkers during the time. But in 1774 Jay drafted the Address to the People of Great Britain, which was critical of the institution. He became active in the cause of abolition of slavery after 1777, when he drafted a state law calling for an end to slavery. The law failed to pass. He tried again, and his second attempt also failed in 1785. By this time almost every member of the New York legislature had voted for some form of emancipation, but they disagreed on what rights to give the freed slaves afterward. Many of these former slaveholders, including Jay (in 1798), had independently freed their slaves after the Revolution. Jay was the founder and president of the New York Manumission Society in 1785, which organized boycotts against newspapers and merchants involved in the slave trade, and provided legal counsel for free men who were claimed or kidnapped as slaves. The Society helped enact the 1799 law for gradual emancipation of slaves in New York, which Jay later signed into law as governor. This law, formally titled "An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery", provided that, commencing July 4 of that year, all children born to slave parents would be free, subject to apprenticeships, and that slave exports would be prohibited. These children would be required to serve the mother’s owner until age 28 for males and age 25 for females. The law did not provide government payment of compensation to the owners. It also provided legal protection and assistance for former slaves kidnapped for the purposes of being sold into slavery. All slaves were emancipated by July 4, 1827.
During the American Revolution, Jay was elected to serve as delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, where the issue of whether the colonies should declare independence was decided. He hoped to reconcile the colonies with Britain, but as events unfolded, his support for independence grew stronger. In 1774, at the close of the Continental Congress, Jay returned to New York. There he was elected to the third New York Provincial Congress, where he drafted the Constitution of New York in 1777. His duties as a New York Congressman prevented him from voting on or signing the Declaration of Independence. Jay served on the committee to detect and defeat conspiracies, which monitored British Actions. New York's Provincial Congress elected Jay the Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court of Judicature on May 8, 1777, a position he held for two years.
The Continental Congress elected Jay as its President, where he served from December 10, 1778, to September 28, 1779. This was a largely ceremonial position without real power. On September 27, 1779, Jay was appointed Minister to Spain. His mission was to get financial aid, commercial treaties and recognition of American independence. The royal court of Spain refused to officially receive Jay as the Minister of the United States, refusing to recognize American Independence until 1783. The Spanish were afraid that such recognition could lead to revolution in their own colonies. However was able to convinced Spain to lend $170,000 to the US government. He remained in Spain with his wife until May 20, 1782.
From Spain, Jay went to Paris, arriving there on June 23, 1782. He led the American contingent negotiating an end to the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Franklin was the most experienced diplomat of the group. In July 1782, the Earl of Shelburne offered the Americans independence, but Jay rejected the offer on the grounds that it did not recognize American independence during the negotiations. The final treaty dictated that Britain would acknowledge the United States as independent and would withdraw its troops in exchange for the United States ending the seizure of Loyalist property and honoring private debts. The treaty granted the United States independence, but left many border regions in dispute. Jay served as the second Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 1784 to 1789.
Jay joined Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in advocating for a stronger government than the one dictated by the Articles of Confederation. He argued that the Articles of Confederation were too weak and an ineffective form of government. Jay did not attend the Constitutional Convention but joined Hamilton and Madison in aggressively arguing in favor of the creation of a new and more powerful centralized government. He wrote under the shared pseudonym of "Publius" in The Federalist Papers, a series of eighty-five articles written to persuade New York state convention members to ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States. Jay wrote the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixty-fourth articles.
In September 1789, Jay was the first choice of President George Washington for the position of Secretary of State, but Jay declined. Washington rthen offered Jay the job of Chief Justice of the United States, which Jay accepted. Washington officially nominated Jay on September 24, 1789, the same day he signed the Judiciary Act of 1789, which created the position of Chief Justice. Jay was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on September 26, 1789 and Washington signed Jay's commission the same day. Jay swore his oath of office on October 19, 1789.
In those days the court conducted its business by "riding circuit", presiding over cases in the circuit courts of the various federal judicial districts. Supreme Court Justices were not prohibited from being active in political affairs, and Jay worked to promote Washington's administration. He used his circuit riding to spread word throughout the states of Washington's commitment to neutrality. But in 1790, when Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton asked Jay for the Court's endorsement of legislation that would assume the debts of the states, Jay refused to take a position on this issue.
The Court heard only four cases during Jay's term as Chief Justice. In 1792, Jay ran as the Federalist candidate for Governor of New York. He lost that election to Democratic-Republican George Clinton. Jay received more votes than George Clinton, but some of his votes were disqualified, giving George Clinton a slight plurality.
Jay is perhaps most famous for negotiating the controversial Jay Treaty. The conflict with Britain flared up again during Washington's second term, as British exports flooded the U.S. market once again, while American exports were blocked by British trade restrictions and tariffs. Britain still occupied northern forts that it had agreed to surrender and British impressment of American sailors and harassment of American ships also created conflict. Washington sent Jay as a special envoy to Great Britain to negotiate a new treaty. Alexander Hamilton gave Jay instructions in the negotiations.
Jay negotiated what became known as the "Jay Treaty" and in March 1795, the treaty was brought back for ratification by the Senate. Jay had very little leverage during the negotiations. The treaty eliminated Britain's control of northwestern posts and granted the United States "most favored nation" status in trade, while the U.S. agreed to restricted commercial access to the British West Indies. The treaty did not resolve American grievances about shipping rights and impressment.
The Democratic-Republicans were very critical of the treaty. British impressment of American ships continued. The failure to get compensation for slaves taken by the British during the Revolution led to bitter southern opposition to the treaty. Jefferson and Madison were among those most opposed to the treaty. Washington and Hamilton and the Federalists supported the treaty and in the end the Senate ratified the treaty by a vote of 20–10 vote (the two-thirds majority requirement, with no room to spare). For Democratic-Republicans this became a campaign issue. They saw the treaty as a a betrayal of American interests, and the vilified Jay. One newspaper editor wrote: "John Jay, ah! the arch traitor – seize him, drown him, burn him, flay him alive." Jay humorously remarked that he could travel at night from Boston to Philadelphia solely by the light of his burning effigies.
In May of 1795, while he was in Britain, Jay was elected as the second governor of New York State (following George Clinton) as a Federalist. He resigned from the Supreme Court on June 29, 1795, and served six years as governor until 1801. President John Adams then renominated him to the Supreme Court and the Senate confirmed him, but Jay declined the appointment, citing poor health as the reason for his refusal to serve. Jay also ran in the 1796 presidential election, winning five electoral votes, and in the 1800 election, winning one vote.
In 1801, Jay retired from public service and went to live as a farmer in Westchester County, New York. Soon after his retirement, his wife died. Jay continued to farm and stayed out of politics, other than writing a letter in 1819, condemning Missouri's bid for admission to the union as a slave state. In the letter he said that slavery "ought not to be introduced nor permitted in any of the new states".
On May 14, 1829, Jay was stricken with palsy, probably caused by a stroke. He survived for another three days, dying in Bedford, New York, on May 17. Jay is buried in Rye, New York, where he lived as a boy.
John Jays came from a prominent merchant family in New York City. His ancestors had come to New York to escape religious persecution in France. John Jay was born on December 12, 1745, in New York City. His family moved to Rye, New York when John was a child and he was home schooled by his mother until he was eight years old, when he was sent to New Rochelle to study under an Anglican priest named Pierre Stoupe for three years before returning to homeschooling. In 1760, Jay attended King's College where he made many friends with whom his life would intertwine politically.
In 1768, Jay was admitted to the bar of New York, Jay and established a legal practice. He opened his own law office in 1771. He served as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in 1774. At first he was one of the group that wanted to negotiate resolution of contentious issues with the British Parliament, but subsequent events such as the burning of Norfolk, Virginia, by British troops in January 1776 pushed Jay into the camp of those calling for independence. When the Revolutionary War began, he joined the revolutionary cause and was an ardent Patriot.
On April 28, 1774, Jay married Sarah Van Brugh Livingston, daughter of the New Jersey Governor William Livingston. Sarah was seventeen years old and John was twenty-eight. He inherited land from his grandparents and built Bedford House, located near Katonah, New York.
John Jay was a slaveholder, like many wealthy New Yorkers during the time. But in 1774 Jay drafted the Address to the People of Great Britain, which was critical of the institution. He became active in the cause of abolition of slavery after 1777, when he drafted a state law calling for an end to slavery. The law failed to pass. He tried again, and his second attempt also failed in 1785. By this time almost every member of the New York legislature had voted for some form of emancipation, but they disagreed on what rights to give the freed slaves afterward. Many of these former slaveholders, including Jay (in 1798), had independently freed their slaves after the Revolution. Jay was the founder and president of the New York Manumission Society in 1785, which organized boycotts against newspapers and merchants involved in the slave trade, and provided legal counsel for free men who were claimed or kidnapped as slaves. The Society helped enact the 1799 law for gradual emancipation of slaves in New York, which Jay later signed into law as governor. This law, formally titled "An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery", provided that, commencing July 4 of that year, all children born to slave parents would be free, subject to apprenticeships, and that slave exports would be prohibited. These children would be required to serve the mother’s owner until age 28 for males and age 25 for females. The law did not provide government payment of compensation to the owners. It also provided legal protection and assistance for former slaves kidnapped for the purposes of being sold into slavery. All slaves were emancipated by July 4, 1827.
During the American Revolution, Jay was elected to serve as delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, where the issue of whether the colonies should declare independence was decided. He hoped to reconcile the colonies with Britain, but as events unfolded, his support for independence grew stronger. In 1774, at the close of the Continental Congress, Jay returned to New York. There he was elected to the third New York Provincial Congress, where he drafted the Constitution of New York in 1777. His duties as a New York Congressman prevented him from voting on or signing the Declaration of Independence. Jay served on the committee to detect and defeat conspiracies, which monitored British Actions. New York's Provincial Congress elected Jay the Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court of Judicature on May 8, 1777, a position he held for two years.
The Continental Congress elected Jay as its President, where he served from December 10, 1778, to September 28, 1779. This was a largely ceremonial position without real power. On September 27, 1779, Jay was appointed Minister to Spain. His mission was to get financial aid, commercial treaties and recognition of American independence. The royal court of Spain refused to officially receive Jay as the Minister of the United States, refusing to recognize American Independence until 1783. The Spanish were afraid that such recognition could lead to revolution in their own colonies. However was able to convinced Spain to lend $170,000 to the US government. He remained in Spain with his wife until May 20, 1782.
From Spain, Jay went to Paris, arriving there on June 23, 1782. He led the American contingent negotiating an end to the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Franklin was the most experienced diplomat of the group. In July 1782, the Earl of Shelburne offered the Americans independence, but Jay rejected the offer on the grounds that it did not recognize American independence during the negotiations. The final treaty dictated that Britain would acknowledge the United States as independent and would withdraw its troops in exchange for the United States ending the seizure of Loyalist property and honoring private debts. The treaty granted the United States independence, but left many border regions in dispute. Jay served as the second Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 1784 to 1789.
Jay joined Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in advocating for a stronger government than the one dictated by the Articles of Confederation. He argued that the Articles of Confederation were too weak and an ineffective form of government. Jay did not attend the Constitutional Convention but joined Hamilton and Madison in aggressively arguing in favor of the creation of a new and more powerful centralized government. He wrote under the shared pseudonym of "Publius" in The Federalist Papers, a series of eighty-five articles written to persuade New York state convention members to ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States. Jay wrote the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixty-fourth articles.
In September 1789, Jay was the first choice of President George Washington for the position of Secretary of State, but Jay declined. Washington rthen offered Jay the job of Chief Justice of the United States, which Jay accepted. Washington officially nominated Jay on September 24, 1789, the same day he signed the Judiciary Act of 1789, which created the position of Chief Justice. Jay was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on September 26, 1789 and Washington signed Jay's commission the same day. Jay swore his oath of office on October 19, 1789.
In those days the court conducted its business by "riding circuit", presiding over cases in the circuit courts of the various federal judicial districts. Supreme Court Justices were not prohibited from being active in political affairs, and Jay worked to promote Washington's administration. He used his circuit riding to spread word throughout the states of Washington's commitment to neutrality. But in 1790, when Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton asked Jay for the Court's endorsement of legislation that would assume the debts of the states, Jay refused to take a position on this issue.
The Court heard only four cases during Jay's term as Chief Justice. In 1792, Jay ran as the Federalist candidate for Governor of New York. He lost that election to Democratic-Republican George Clinton. Jay received more votes than George Clinton, but some of his votes were disqualified, giving George Clinton a slight plurality.
Jay is perhaps most famous for negotiating the controversial Jay Treaty. The conflict with Britain flared up again during Washington's second term, as British exports flooded the U.S. market once again, while American exports were blocked by British trade restrictions and tariffs. Britain still occupied northern forts that it had agreed to surrender and British impressment of American sailors and harassment of American ships also created conflict. Washington sent Jay as a special envoy to Great Britain to negotiate a new treaty. Alexander Hamilton gave Jay instructions in the negotiations.
Jay negotiated what became known as the "Jay Treaty" and in March 1795, the treaty was brought back for ratification by the Senate. Jay had very little leverage during the negotiations. The treaty eliminated Britain's control of northwestern posts and granted the United States "most favored nation" status in trade, while the U.S. agreed to restricted commercial access to the British West Indies. The treaty did not resolve American grievances about shipping rights and impressment.
The Democratic-Republicans were very critical of the treaty. British impressment of American ships continued. The failure to get compensation for slaves taken by the British during the Revolution led to bitter southern opposition to the treaty. Jefferson and Madison were among those most opposed to the treaty. Washington and Hamilton and the Federalists supported the treaty and in the end the Senate ratified the treaty by a vote of 20–10 vote (the two-thirds majority requirement, with no room to spare). For Democratic-Republicans this became a campaign issue. They saw the treaty as a a betrayal of American interests, and the vilified Jay. One newspaper editor wrote: "John Jay, ah! the arch traitor – seize him, drown him, burn him, flay him alive." Jay humorously remarked that he could travel at night from Boston to Philadelphia solely by the light of his burning effigies.
In May of 1795, while he was in Britain, Jay was elected as the second governor of New York State (following George Clinton) as a Federalist. He resigned from the Supreme Court on June 29, 1795, and served six years as governor until 1801. President John Adams then renominated him to the Supreme Court and the Senate confirmed him, but Jay declined the appointment, citing poor health as the reason for his refusal to serve. Jay also ran in the 1796 presidential election, winning five electoral votes, and in the 1800 election, winning one vote.
In 1801, Jay retired from public service and went to live as a farmer in Westchester County, New York. Soon after his retirement, his wife died. Jay continued to farm and stayed out of politics, other than writing a letter in 1819, condemning Missouri's bid for admission to the union as a slave state. In the letter he said that slavery "ought not to be introduced nor permitted in any of the new states".
On May 14, 1829, Jay was stricken with palsy, probably caused by a stroke. He survived for another three days, dying in Bedford, New York, on May 17. Jay is buried in Rye, New York, where he lived as a boy.