Jay, John

John Jay (1745-1829) was born in New York City, attended King's College, and became a lawyer in 1768. He served in the New York militia and attended both the First and Second Continental Congresses. He helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris in 1783, along with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, that ended the American Revolution. Jay was a Federalist who wrote in support of the Constitution in The Federalist. In 1789, President George Washington appointed Jay the first Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court and in 1794, special envoy to London to put an end to tensions with Great Britain. The negotiations resulted in the signing of the Jay Treaty. At the same time, Short had started negotiations with the Spanish government over the free navigation of the Mississippi and border disputes, the outcome of which was the signing of the Pinckney Treaty, in 1795. Jay eventually resigned from the Supreme Court and was elected governor of New York, serving two terms (1795-1801).