John Jay

American jurist, diplomat, and politician

• Born: December 12, 1745
• Birthplace: New York, New York
• Died: May 17, 1829
• Place of death: Bedford, New York

As president of the Second Continental Congress, ambassador to Spain, foreign secretary under the Articles of Confederation, first chief justice of the United States, and governor of New York, Jay contributed greatly to the political and judicial development of New York State and the American nation.

Early Life

John Jay was born in were chosen, the sixth son in a family of eight children. His father, Peter Jay, was from one of the most influential families in the colony and had amassed a fortune as a merchant. His mother, née Mary Van Cortlandt, came from one of the oldest European families in the Hudson River Valley. Young Jay grew up as a member of the privileged class in New York, benefiting from private tutors and the most comfortable of surroundings. His father took a special interest in his education and decided that John should read the best of the classics, literature, and history. The youth attended King’s College (now Columbia University), from which he was graduated in 1764. He decided upon the practice of law as his vocation and apprenticed himself to one of the most respected lawyers of the city, Benjamin Kissam.

Jay gained admission to the bar in 1768 and embarked upon a lucrative private practice. His family and social connections enabled him to associate with the elite of the colony. A tall, slender, and dark-complected young man of sensitive features, he soon captured the attentions of young ladies active in New York’s social whirl. Although by nature a quiet, studious, and serious person, Jay had a quick wit and lively spirit that made him a person of popularity and an attractive bachelor. Sarah Van Brugh Livingston, daughter of William Livingston, the first governor of New Jersey, captured the young man’s heart. She and Jay were married on April 28, 1774. They would eventually have two sons and five daughters.

By the time of his marriage, Jay had already become active in public affairs. His inherited wealth freed him from financial dependence on his law practice, and Jay was therefore able to devote himself to public service, a calling that would occupy most of his adult life. In 1773, he received appointment as member of a commission created to survey the boundary between New York and New Jersey. He served with distinction on this committee, which settled a long-standing border dispute between the two colonies. Jay impressed everyone with his diplomatic skills and negotiating abilities, talents upon which he would draw as a political leader. During the revolutionary crisis of the mid-1770’s, Jay became an active member of the New York Committee of Correspondence. This resulted in his being elected as a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses.

Life’s Work

John Jay’s service in the First Continental Congress in 1774 marked the start of his major contributions to the creation of the United States of America as a free and independent nation. Initially, he represented the conservative commercial interests of his colony in the Continental Congress, and after the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Jay became one of the most vocal proponents of the new nation. In that year, he returned to New York, where he helped to draft the constitution of that state and served as chief justice of New York until he was reelected to Congress in 1778. His fellow delegates chose him as the president of the Continental Congress, a position he held from December, 1778, until September, 1779. During that time, he acted as the highest-ranking civil officer in the young government and, in concert with George Washington, directed the course of the Revolutionary War.

By 1779, the support of European nations, especially France and Spain, had become crucial to the success of the American cause. France had already entered the war as an American ally against Great Britain. Spain, however, vacillated and had only recently entered the conflict, refusing to ally itself formally with the United States. Jay was appointed ambassador to Spain in the fall of 1779 and was given the difficult task of winning Spanish support for the United States. As the largest colonial power in the Western Hemisphere, Spain was not eager to side openly with the American rebels. Jay therefore went to Spain prepared for difficult negotiations with the Spanish court. As ambassador, he spent two years in Spain, where he conducted talks with Count Floridablanca, the Spanish foreign minister, who did not want to assist the Americans. Nevertheless, Jay was able to convince Spain to make sizable “loans” to the United States and to continue sending large amounts of military supplies for General Washington’s army. Although Jay’s work in Spain never resulted in a formal treaty, he gained valuable diplomatic experience and secured significant assistance for the United States.

This work resulted in Jay being selected as a member of the U.S. delegation sent to Paris for the purpose of negotiating the peace treaty in 1782. Jay played an active role in these deliberations, along with John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Jay was instrumental in convincing his fellow delegation members to conclude a separate treaty with Great Britain and not to include France in joint negotiations. This resulted in the United States signing a preliminary bilateral peace treaty with the British on January 20, 1783. (The Revolutionary War formally ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783.) With the conclusion of this treaty, Jay rejected a congressional offer to become the ambassador to Great Britain. Instead, he returned home with the hope that he would resume the practice of law.

Upon his arrival in New York during the summer of 1784, he found that he had been appointed secretary for foreign affairs in the new U.S. government, which had recently been organized under the Articles of Confederation. He decided to accept this post and actively began the direction of American foreign policy. He served in this position during the remainder of the decade. Jay was chiefly concerned during these years with disputes along the U.S. borders with Canada and with Florida. England and Spain, as the colonial masters of these colonies, did not fully respond to his efforts to resolve these difficulties and draw firm boundaries. The government of the United States was perceived by European leaders as being so weak that Jay found it difficult to bring European diplomats to the bargaining table, much less obtain a favorable resolution. Jay did, however, negotiate successful commercial treaties with Denmark, Portugal, Austria, and Tuscany during his tenure as foreign secretary.

Between 1784 and 1789, Jay also conducted lengthy and extensive discussions with Diego Gardoquí, Spain’s ambassador to the United States. Jay wished to resolve questions about the navigation of the Mississippi River and settlements in the western areas contiguous to Spanish Louisiana. Jay and Gardoquí drafted a preliminary treaty in 1789, which Congress refused to ratify because Jay had not insisted upon the free and unlimited navigation of the Mississippi by citizens of the United States.

Along with James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, Jay was an active supporter of the new Constitution, which was drafted in 1787. With these two colleagues, he wrote a series of essays arguing for adoption of the Constitution, essays that have become know as The Federalist papers (1787-1788). Jay was willing to continue as the nation’s chief diplomat when the new document was implemented in 1789. Instead, President Washington appointed him to be the first chief justice of the United States. Most of the technical procedures and precedents under which the U.S. Supreme Court operates were established during Jay’s term. In addition, he heard several influential cases, the most important being Chisholm v. Georgia, which affirmed the right of citizens of one state to sue citizens of other states in the federal court system.

Jay’s greatest triumph while serving as chief justice came in the area of foreign affairs. In 1794, President Washington sent Jay to England on a special diplomatic mission for the purpose of discussing problems pending between the two nations. These included occupation by the British army of posts in U.S. territory northwest of the Ohio River, debts owed by Americans to English creditors, and seizures of neutral ships by the Royal Navy as a result of the Anglo-French War. In discussions with Lord Grenville, the British foreign minister, the American envoy drafted an agreement known as Jay’s Treaty. This document provided for a mixed commission to hear maritime claims brought by citizens of the two nations, a British agreement to evacuate their northwestern posts inside the United States, the free navigation of the Mississippi by ships of English and American registry, and the use of special commissions to resolve future boundary claims between the two nations. This treaty became the object of a vigorous ratification debate in Congress during which Jay was vilified by political opponents of the Washington administration. The followers of Thomas Jefferson and Madison were incensed by this treaty, but, nevertheless, Congress ratified it.

Jay returned from England to find himself nominated as the Federalist Party candidate for the governorship of New York. While chief justice, Jay had played a role in supporting the Washington administration and the policies of Hamilton. This resulted in his becoming a leader of the Federalist Party, a party comprising those who agreed with Hamilton’s program. Jay decided to run, resigning as chief justice. He served two terms as governor of New York, representing all the while the conservative concerns of the Federalist Party and the commercial interests of that state. As governor, he signed the law that abolished slavery in New York. In 1800, he decided to retire from public life and chose not to run for reelection. Jay retired to his farm at Bedford, Westchester County, only a few miles from New York City. There he spent the remainder of his life active in various organizations, including the American Bible Society and the Episcopal Church. He died in his rural home on May 17, 1829.

Significance

As the highly educated son of a wealthy New York merchant, John Jay led a patrician life, the values of which were reflected in his diplomatic and legal accomplishments. He always had at heart the furtherance of American mercantile and commercial interests because he believed that the prosperity of the nation rested upon these activities. A quiet, deliberate, and studious man, he had natural skills as a diplomat and negotiator.

Jay was certain that the United States would have to stand alone as a free and independent nation, in control of its own international destiny. His dignified approach to American foreign relations brought a high moral tone which served the nation well. His discussions with Gardoquí and Grenville were conducted at a level that forced these European diplomats to accept Jay as an equal at a time when the recent, somewhat tentative independence of the United States did not always merit such treatment. He will always be remembered for his measured conduct of American foreign relations during the Confederation period, along with his successful negotiations of Jay’s Treaty.

Bibliography

Bemis, Samuel Flagg. Jay’s Treaty: A Study in Commerce and Diplomacy. New York: Macmillan, 1923. Reprint. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1962. This study, by a specialist in American colonial history, treats in detail Jay’s role as a diplomat during the Confederation period and the Washington administration. It offers an almost day-by-day recounting of the negotiation of Jay’s Treaty.

Brecher, Frank W. Securing American Independence: John Jay and the French Alliance. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2003. Brecher examines the American diplomatic efforts to end the Revolutionary War, focusing on the activities of John Jay and Charles Gravier de Vergennes.

Castro, William R. The Supreme Court in the Early Republic: The Chief Justiceships of John Jay and Oliver Ellsworth. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995. A history of the U.S. Supreme Court, from its creation through the appointment of its third chief justice. Includes an examination of the cases heard when Jay was chief justice, describing how the Court helped Washington’s administration handle national security and foreign policy issues.

Jay, William. The Life of John Jay: With Selections from His Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers. 2 vols. New York: J. and J. Harper, 1833. This biography, written by John Jay’s son shortly after Jay’s death, offers a unique view of Jay as a person and provides invaluable insights into his opinions, beliefs, and motivations.

Monagahan, Frank. John Jay: Defender of Liberty. New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1935. Concentrates on Jay’s public career and provides a factual, straightforward narrative of the events associated with his life. This work is the first scholarly biography of Jay and is based on primary sources and extensive research.

Morris, Richard B. John Jay, the Nation, and the Court. Boston: Boston University Press, 1967. The published version of the Bacon lectures, which the author presented at Boston University. Morris views Jay as a jurist who reflected the conservative commercial opinions of early American history. Highly interpretive, the lectures present few facts about Jay’s life but instead comment upon his significance to American history.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence. New York: Harper & Row, 1965. A general study of the diplomacy of the American Revolution that examines Jay’s role as ambassador to Spain and peace commissioner within the context of the era. It provides an excellent assessment of his activities at the Paris Peace Conference of 1783.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗, ed. John Jay: The Making of a Revolutionary, Unpublished Papers, 1745-1780. New York: Harper & Row, 1980. Volume 1 of a two-volume set.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. John Jay: The Winning of Peace, 1780-1784. New York: Harper & Row, 1980. Volume 2 of a two-volume collection of Jay’s letters and papers, annotated by the editor. Each section contains a lengthy and extremely useful biographical and historical introduction.

Pellew, George. John Jay. Broomall, Pa.: Chelsea House, 1997. A reprint of a biography originally published in 1898, with an introduction by Jay scholar Richard B. Morris. Pellew was the nephew of Jay’s grandson, and therefore able to read previously unexamined family papers and interview family members. His book provides a view of Jay’s family life and his public career.

Smith, Donald Lewis. John Jay: Founder of a State and Nation. New York: Teachers College Press of Columbia University, 1968. A general study of Jay written especially for high school students. Based on secondary sources, it is a good starting place for those unfamiliar with Jay’s career.

Stahr, Walter. John Jay: Founding Father. London: Hambledon and London, 2005. A comprehensive biography based, in part, on previously unavailable information. Stahr describes Jay’s influence and importance in the early years of the American republic, examining his public career as well as his personal life.