Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

JAY, JOHN (1745-1829)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 296 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

JAY, See also:JOHN (1745-1829) , See also:American statesman, the descendant of a Huguenot See also:family, and son of See also:Peter Jay, a successful New See also:York See also:merchant, was See also:born in New York See also:City on the 12th of See also:December 1745. On graduating at See also:King's See also:College (now See also:Columbia University) in 1764, Jay entered the See also:office of See also:Benjamin Kissam, an eminent New York lawyer. In 1768 he was admitted to the See also:bar, and rapidly acquired a lucrative practice. In 1774 he married Sarah, youngest daughter of See also:William See also:Livingston, and was thus brought into See also:close relations with one of the most influential families in New York. Like many other able See also:young lawyers, Jay took an active See also:part in the proceedings that resulted in the See also:independence of the See also:United States, identifying himself with the conservative See also:element in the Whig or patriot party. He was sent as a delegate from New York City to the See also:Continental See also:Congress at See also:Philadelphia in See also:September 1774, and though almost the youngest member, was entrusted with See also:drawing up the address to the See also:people of See also:Great See also:Britain. Of the second congress, also, which met at Philadelphia on the loth of May 1775, Jay was a member; and on its behalf he prepared an address to the people of See also:Canada and an address to the people of See also:Jamaica and See also:Ireland. In See also:April 1776, while still retaining his seat in the Continental Congress, Jay was chosen as a member of the third provincial congress of New York; and his consequent See also:absence from Philadelphia deprived him of the See also:honour of affixing his See also:signature to the See also:Declaration of Independence. As a member of the See also:fourth provincial congress he drafted a See also:resolution by which the delegates of New York in the Continental Congress were authorized to sign the Declaration of Independence. In 1777 he was chairman of the See also:committee of the See also:convention which drafted the first New York See also:state constitution After acting for some See also:time as one of the See also:council of safety (which administered the state See also:government until the new constitution came into effect), he was made See also:chief See also:justice of New York state, in September 1777. A clause in the state constitution prohibited any justice of the Supteme See also:Court from holding any other See also:post See also:save that of delegate to Congress on a " See also:special occasion," but in See also:November 1778 the legislature pronounced the See also:secession his seat in Congress and accepted the secretaryship. He continued to See also:act in this capacity until x790, when See also:Jefferson became secretary of state under the new constitution.

In the question of this constitution Jay had taken a keen See also:

interest, and as an See also:advocate of its ratification he wrote over the name " Publius," five (Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 64) of the famous See also:series of papers known collectively as the Federalist (see See also:HAMILTON, See also:ALEXANDER). He published anonymously (though without succeeding in concealing the authorship) An Address to the People of New York, in vindication of the constitution; and in the state convention at See also:Poughkeepsie he ably seconded Hamilton in securing its ratification by New York. In making his first appointments to federal offices See also:President See also:Washington asked Jay to take his choice; Jay See also:chose that of chief justice of the Supreme Court, and held this position from September 1789 to See also:June 1795. The most famous See also:case that came before him was that of Chisolm v. See also:Georgia, in which the question was, Can a state be sued by a See also:citizen of another state ? Georgia argued that it could not be so sued, on the ground that it was a See also:sovereign state, but Jay decided against Georgia, on the ground that See also:sovereignty in See also:America resided with the people. This decision led to the See also:adoption of the See also:eleventh See also:amendment to the federal constitution, which provides that no suit may be brought in the federal courts against any state by a citizen of another state or by a citizen or subject of any See also:foreign state. In 1792 Jay consented to stand for the governorship of New York State, but a See also:partisan returning-See also:board found the returns of three counties technically defective, and though Jay had received an actual See also:majority of votes, his opponent, See also:George See also:Clinton, was declared elected. Ever since the See also:War of Independence there had been See also:friction between Great Britain and the United States. To the grievances of the United States, consisting principally of Great Britain's refusal to withdraw its troops from the forts on the See also:north-western frontier, as was required by the See also:peace treaty of 1783, her refusal to make See also:compensation for negroes carried away by the See also:British See also:army at the close of the War of Independence, her restrictions on American See also:commerce, and her refusal to enter into any commercial treaty with the United States, were added, after war See also:broke out between See also:France and Great Britain in 1793, the See also:anti-neutral See also:naval policy according to which British naval vessels were authorized to See also:search American merchantmen and impress American See also:seamen, provisions were treated as See also:contraband of war, and American vessels were seized for no other See also:reason than that they had on board goods which were the See also:property of the enemy or were See also:bound for a See also:port which though not actually blockaded was declared to be blockaded. The anti-British feeling in the See also:House of Representatives became so strong that on the 7th of April 1794 a resolution was introduced to prohibit commercial intercourse between the United States and Great Britain until the north-western posts should be evacuated and Great Britain's anti-neutral naval policy should be abandoned.

Thereupon Washington, fearing that war might result, appointed Jay See also:

minister extraordinary to Great Britain to negotiate a new treaty, and the See also:Senate confirmed the See also:appointment by a See also:vote of 18 to 8, although the non-intercourse resolution which came from the house a few days later was defeated in the senate only by the casting vote of See also:Vice-President John See also:Adams. Jay landed a.t See also:Falmouth in June 1794, signed a treaty with See also:Lord See also:Grenville on the 19th of November, and disembarked again at New York on the 28th of May 1795. The treaty, known in See also:history as Jay's Treaty, provided that the north-western posts should be evacuated by the 1st of June 1796, that commissioners should be appointed to See also:settle the north-See also:east and the north-See also:west boundaries, and that the British claims for British debts as well as the American claims for compensation for illegal seizures should be referred to commissioners. More than one-See also:half of the clauses in the treaty related to commerce, and although they contained rather small concessions to the United States, they were about as much as could reasonably have been expected in the circumstances. One clause, the operation of which was limited to two years from the close of the existing war, provided that American vessels not exceeding 70 tons See also:burden of what is now the state of See also:Vermont from the See also:jurisdiction of New See also:Hampshire and New York to be such an occasion, and sent Jay to Congress charged with the See also:duty of securing a See also:settlement of the territorial claims of his state. He took his seat in congress on the 7th of December, and on the xoth was chosen president in See also:succession to See also:Henry See also:Laurens. On the 27th of September 1779 Jay was appointed minister plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty between See also:Spain and the United States. He was instructed to endeavour to bring Spain into the treaty already existing between France and the United States by a See also:guarantee that Spain should have the Floridas in case of a successful issue of the war against Great Britain, reserving, however, to the United States the See also:free See also:navigation of the See also:Mississippi. He was also to solicit a See also:subsidy in See also:consideration of the guarantee, and a See also:loan of five million dollars. His task was one of extreme difficulty. Although Spain had joined France in the war against Great Britain, she feared to imperil her own colonial interests by directly encouraging and aiding the former British colonies in their revolt against their See also:mother See also:country, and she had refused to recognize the United States as an in-dependent See also:power. Jay landed at See also:Cadiz on the 22nd of See also:January 178o, but was told that he could not be received in a formally See also:diplomatic See also:character.

In May the king's minister, See also:

Count de See also:Florida Blanca, intimated to him that the one obstacle to a treaty was the question of the free navigation of the Mississippi, and for months following this interview the policy of the court was clearly one of delay. In See also:February 1781 Congress instructed Jay that he might make concessions regarding the navigation of the Mississippi, if necessary; but further delays were interposed, the See also:news of the surrender of See also:Yorktown arrived, and Jay decided that any See also:sacrifice to obtain a treaty was no longer advisable. His efforts to procure a loan were not m ch more successful, and he was seriously embarrassed by the See also:action of Congress in drawing bills upon him for large sums. Although by importuning the See also:Spanish minister, and by pledging his See also:personal responsibility, Jay was able to meet some of the bills, he was at last forced to protest others; and the See also:credit of the United States was saved only by a timely subsidy from France. In 1781 Jay was commissioned to act with See also:Franklin, John Adams, Jefferson and Henry Laurens in negotiating a peace with Great Britain. He arrived in See also:Paris on the 23rd of June 1782, and jointly with Franklin had proceeded far with the negotiations when Adams arrived See also:late in See also:October. The instructions of the American negotiators were as follows: " You are to make the most candid and confidential communications upon all subjects to the ministers of our generous ally, the king of France; to undertake nothing in the negotiations for peace or truce without their knowledge and concurrence; and ultimately to govern yourselves by their See also:advice and See also:opinion, endeavouring in your whole conduct to make them sensible how much we rely on his See also:majesty's See also:influence for effectual support in every thing that may be necessary to the See also:present See also:security, or future prosperity, of the United States of America." Jay, however, in a See also:letter written to the president of Congress from Spain, had expressed in strong terms his disapproval of such dependence upon France, and, on arriving in Paris, he demanded that Great Britain should treat with his country on an equal footing by first recognizing its independence, although the See also:French minister, Count de See also:Vergennes, contended that an See also:acknowledgment of independence as an effect of the treaty was as much as could reasonably be expected. Finally, owing largely to Jay, who suspected the See also:good faith of France, the American negotiators decided to treat independently with Great Britain. The provisional articles, which were so favour-able to the United States as to be a great surprise to the courts of France and Spain, were signed on the 3oth of November 1782, and were adopted with no important See also:change as the final treaty on the 3rd of September 1783. On the 24th of See also:July 1784 Jay landed in New York, where he was presented with the freedom of the city and elected a delegate to Congress. On the 7th of May Congress had already chosen him to be secretary for foreign affairs, and in December Jay resigned might See also:trade with the West Indies, but should carry only American products there and take away to American ports only West See also:Indian products; moreover, the United States was to export in American vessels no See also:molasses, See also:sugar, See also:coffee, See also:cocoa or See also:cotton to any part of the See also:world. Jay consented to this See also:prohibition under the impression that the articles named were peculiarly the products of the West Indies, not being aware that cotton was rapidly becoming an important export from the See also:southern states.

The operation of the other commercial clauses was limited to twelve years. By them the United States was granted limited privileges of trade with the British East Indies; some provisions were made for reciprocal freedom of trade between the United States and the British dominions in See also:

Europe; some articles were specified under the See also:head of " contra-See also:band of war "; it was agreed that whenever provisions were seized as contraband they should be paid for, and that in cases of the See also:capture of a See also:vessel carrying contraband goods such goods only and not the whole See also:cargo should be seized; it was also agreed that no vessel should be seized merely because it was bound for a blockaded port, unless it attempted to enter the port after receiving See also:notice of the See also:blockade. The treaty was laid before the Senate on the 8th of June 1795, and, with the exception of the clause See also:relating to trade with the West Indies, was ratified on the 24th by a vote of 20 to Io. As yet the public was ignorant of its contents, and although the Senate had enjoined secrecy on its members even after the treaty had been ratified, Senator See also:Mason of See also:Virginia gave out a copy for publication only a few days later. The Republican party, strongly sympathizing with France and strongly disliking Great Britain, had been opposed to Jay's See also:mission, and had denounced Jay as a traitor and guillotined him in effigy when they heard that he was actually negotiating. The publication of the treaty only added to their fury. They filled See also:newspapers with articles denouncing it, wrote virulent See also:pamphlets against it, and burned Jay in effigy. The British See also:flag was insulted. Hamilton was stoned at a public See also:meeting in New York while speaking in See also:defence of the treaty, and Washington was grossly abused for See also:signing it. In the House of Representatives the Republicans endeavoured to prevent the See also:execution of the treaty by refusing the necessary appropriations, and a vote (29th of April, 1795) on a resolution that it ought to be carried into effect stood 49 to 49; but on the next See also:day the opposition was defeated by a vote of 51 to 48. Once in operation, the treaty See also:grew in favour. Two days before landing on his return from the See also:English mission, Jay had been elected See also:governor of New York state; notwithstanding his temporary unpopularity, he was re-elected in April 1798.

With the close of this second See also:

term of office in 18o1, he ended his public career. Although not yet fifty-seven years old, he refused all offers of office and retiring to his See also:estate near See also:Bedford in Westchester See also:county, N.Y., spent the See also:rest of his See also:life in rarely interrupted seclusion. In politics he was throughout inclined toward Conservatism, and after the rise of parties under the federal government he stood with Alexander Hamilton and John Adams as one of the foremost leaders of the Federalist party, as opposed to the Republicans or Democratic-Republicans. From 1821 until 1828 he was president of the American See also:Bible Society. He died on the 17th of May 1829. The purity and integrity of his life are commemorated in a See also:sentence by See also:Daniel See also:Webster: " When the spotless See also:ermine of the judicial robe See also:fell on John Jay, it touched nothing less spotless than itself." See The See also:Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay (4 vols., New York, 1890-1893), edited by H. P. See also:Johnston; William Jay, Life of John Jay with Selections from his Correspondence and See also:Miscellaneous Papers (2 vols., New York, 1833); William See also:Whitelocke, Life and Times of John Jay (New York, 1887) ; and George Pellew, John Jay (See also:Boston, 1890), in the " American Statesmen Series." John Jay's son, WILLIAM JAY (1789-1858), was born in New York City on the 16th of June 1789, graduated from Yale in 1807, and soon afterwards assumed the management of his See also:father's large estate in Westchester county, N.Y. He was actively interested in peace, See also:temperance and anti-See also:slavery movements. He took a prominent part in 1816 in See also:founding the American Bible Society; was a See also:judge of Westchester county from 1818 to 1843, when he was removed from office by the party in power in New York, which hoped, by sacrificing an anti-slavery judge, to gain additional strength in the southern states; joined the American anti-slavery society in 1834, and held several important offices in this organization. In 184o, how-ever, when it began to advocate See also:measures which he deemed too See also:radical, he withdrew his membership, but with his See also:pen he continued his labours on behalf of the slave, urging emancipation in the See also:district of Columbia and the exclusion of slavery from the Territories, though deprecating any See also:attempt to interfere with slavery in the states. He was a member of the American peace society and was its president for several years.

His pamphlet, War and Peace: the Evils of the First with a See also:

Plan for Securing the Last, advocating See also:international See also:arbitration, was published by the English Peace Society in 1842, and is said to have contributed to the promulgation, by the See also:powers signing the Treaty of Paris in 1856, of a See also:protocol expressing the wish that nations, before resorting to arms, should have recourse to the good offices of a friendly power. Among William Jay's other writings, the most important are The Life of John Jay (2 vols., 1833) and a See also:Review of the Causes and Consequences of the Mexican War (1849). He died at Bedford on the 14th of October 1858. See See also:Bayard Tuckerman, William Jay and the Constitutional See also:Movement for the Abolition of Slavery (New York, 1893). William Jay's son, JOHN JAY (1817-1894), also took an active part in the anti-slavery movement. He was a prominent member of the free See also:soil party, and was one of the organizers of the Republican party in New York. He was United States minister to See also:Austria-See also:Hungary in 1869-1875, and was a member, and for a time president, of the New York See also:civil service See also:commission appointed by Governor See also:Cleveland in 1883.

End of Article: JAY, JOHN (1745-1829)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
JAY (Fr. geai) 		[next]
JAY, WILLIAM (1769-1853)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries