Jay, John (founding father)
Born: 1745-12-12 New York, New York
Died: 1829-05-17 New York
Founding father of the United States, diplomat, and first chief justice of the Supreme Court. Jay graduated from King's College (later Columbia University) in 1764, clerked and read law, and received admittance to the New York bar in 1768. He eschewed involvement in the growing Anglo-American conflict and concentrated on his legal career until 1774, when New York City voters elected him to their Committee on Correspondence. Shortly thereafter, he became one of New York's five delegates to the First Constitutional Convention.
Jay's family connections would have a profound influence on his revolutionary politics. A descendant of French Huguenots on his father's side, Jay grew up as a pious Protestant with a strong aversion to the Roman Catholic Church and France for their persecution of his ancestors. His maternal ancestors were the Van Cortlandts, one of the powerful Dutch patroon landed families in the Hudson Valley. He furthered his connections to the landed aristocracy with his marriage in 1774 to Sarah Livingston, with whom he had seven children. The Jays, Van Cortlandts, and Livingston were among the few New York aristocrats to favor the colonies during the revolutionary crisis.
As a member of the Committee on Correspondence and the First Continental Congress, Jay charted a moderate course. Nevertheless, he compromised with radicals wanting more drastic action and drafted the congress's
Once Congress declared independence and the British launched a massive invasion of New York, Jay lay aside his qualms and joined the rebellion. He arranged the delivery of cannon to George Washington's troops defending New York, organized a council to uncover spies and traitors in the colony, and established an espionage ring. In 1777, he helped draft a constitution for the state of New York. After the state constitution was adopted, Jay became chief justice of the state supreme court. In 1779, New York selected him as a delegate to the Continental Congress, which named him president, based on the mistaken belief that Jay would support French interests in any peace negotiation with Great Britain. The same erroneous thinking prompted Congress to select Jay as U.S. Representatives to Spain and to serve with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams to make peace with Britain when negotiations could become possible.
Jay's sojourn in Spain proved frustrating. Spain agreed to join the war against Britain, but refuse to ally with the United States or acknowledge Jay as its representative. When Jay arrived in Paris in 1782 to join Franklin and Adams for peace negotiations, he was determined to ignore Congress's instructions to follow French dictates in negotiating peace. He was adamant that the United States negotiate a separate peace with Britain without France, and convinced Franklin and Adams of the wisdom of this course. The result was the Treaty of Paris signed in 1783.
When Jay returned to the United States, the Confederation Congress appointed him secretary for foreign affairs. He remained at that post until 1789. Although not a member of the Constitutional Convention, Jay lent his hand in helping secure ratification by joining Alexander Hamilton and
As chief justice, Jay worked to further strengthen the federal government. President Washington also sought out his advice on foreign affairs, particularly concerning the war between France and Britain that commenced in 1793. When British violations of American neutral shipping rights threatened war, Jay accepted Washington's invitation to go to London and negotiate a settlement. Jay's Treaty was roundly attacked by the Jeffersonian Republicans, and its provisions helped to transform the Federalists and Jeffersonian Republican from political factions to full-blown political parties.
When he returned from England, Jay found that New York voters had selected him as governor. He left the Supreme Court and served as governor for six years. In 1800, he declined to be re-nominated for governor and refused an offer of re-appointment as chief justice. He retired to a small estate in Bedford, New York, where he died.
Jerald A. Combs, "Jay, John," American National Biography, ed. by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 11:891-94.