Upon the creation of the 2nd
constitutional Federal government, President Washington asked Jay to accept
"... whatever office he might prefer." John Jay requested the office of
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1789. The President immediately made the
appointments and Jay, upon his U.S. Senate confirmation, resigned his post of
president of the Abolition society.
As the First Chief Justice Jay
established the operating procedures of the Supreme Court setting many legal
precedents. One case of note occurred in 1792 when Alexander Chisholm, became
the South Carolina executor of the Robert Farquhar Estate and sued the state of
Georgia to collect payments due for goods supplied to the State during the
Revolutionary War. Georgia failed to appear in Federal Court claiming State
Sovereignty. Jay's court asserted that the State of Georgia under Article
3, Section 2 of the 2nd Constitution abrogated the States' sovereign
immunity.
This case was won by the Farquhar Estate
and granted the federal courts the affirmative power to hear disputes between
private citizens and States. The state's sovereignty, in this particular case,
was deemed subordinate to the new United States Constitution. Five years later
the States would ratifiy the 11th Amendment which stated "The Judicial powers
of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or
equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of
another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State" protecting
themselves from lawsuits from citizens of other States and nations.
In 1792 Jay was a candidate for the
governorship of New York but reportedly lost as the canvassers declined, on
technical grounds, to count all the votes cast for him, which would have made a
majority in his favor. Two years later Jay, still the Supreme Court Chief
Justice, was nominated by Washington as the special envoy to Great Britain to
avert a 2nd War. James Madison was urging the President to wage a trade embargo
with Great Britain, already engaged in a war with France, to gain concessions in
their weakened state. Madison believed the current war left England too
impoverished to conduct impressments. Great Britain, he believed, would
acquiesce to U.S. demands of fair trade and honor the 1783 Treaty of Paris
boundaries, trade routes and relax its Revolutionary War debt claims against the
States and their citizens. Washington disagreed, wanted to avert war and Jay was
sent, at Alexander Hamilton's recommendation, to exact a treaty with England.
Specifically the U.S. would seek the opening of new Caribbean trade routes,
establishment of fair trade practices, settlement on Revolutionary War debts and
border disputes. In return the United States would agree to remain neutral in
the War between the two super powers.
Still the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court Jay accepted the assignment and traveled to Great Britain. In a series of
meetings with Lord Grenville they concluded the negotiations on November 19th,
1794 agreeing to terms known in American history as "Jay's Treaty.” This
agreement was criticized vehemently by Jefferson and Madison and their
Republican Party. John Jay decided, as Chief Justice, he could not publicly
defend the treaty but wrote to fellow Federalists that he could travel from
Boston to Philadelphia by the glow of his burning effigies. Alexander Hamilton
exacted the entire weight of the Federalist Party to refute the Republican
Party's anti-treaty publicity campaign. The public attacks continued and were so
severe that it was only the firmness of Washington's character and the might of
his administration that the U.S. Senate finally took up the matter as public
opinion slowly began to back the President.
In the end Washington, Jay and Hamilton
won the day and the treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate. This enabled the
fledgling nation to avert a war with Great Britain until 1812 when the United
States was on a much stronger political and economic footing.. Lord Sheffield of
Great Britain viewed the treaty as
“Complete Surrender to England,”
writing just before the War
of 1812,"We have now a complete opportunity of getting rid of that most
impolitic treaty of 1794, when Lord Grenville was so perfectly duped by Jay."
Five days before his return from
England, Jay, who no longer wish to remain the Supreme Court Chief Justice of
The United States was elected governor of New York. He stayed on the court until
the summer of 1795 resigning on
June 29, 1795.
Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections
Division.
My Dear Sir,
The enclosed contains my Resignation of the office Chief Justice -- I cannot
quit it without again appraising to you my acknowledgement for the Honour you
conferred upon me by that appointment, and for the repeated mark of confidence &
attention for which I am indebted to You.
It gives me pleasure to recollect and reflect on these circumstances to undergo
the most sincere wishes for your health and Happiness and to assure you of this
prefect Respect, Esteem and attachment which I am
Dear Sir
obligated & Affectionate Friend
and Servant
John Jay
The President of the United States
John Jay preferred the duties of Governor
to the burdens of Chief Justice and was re-elected in April 1798. At the close
of his second term as governor, in 1801 he was offered the position of Chief
Justice by President John Adams. Jay, now 56, declined and decided to retire
from public service as statesman and key Founding Father. Daniel Webster said of
Jay
"When the spotless ermine of the
judicial robe fell on John Jay, it touched nothing less spotless than itself."
John Jay passed the remainder of his life
on his estate its Westchester County, New York, a property which had descended
to him through his mother, Mary Van Cortlandt. It is located forty-five miles
north of New York City about midway between the Hudson River and Long Island
Sound. The Bedford house, as the mansion is called, is placed on an eminence
that provides a panoramic view rolling hills situated between the two sun
glistening bodies of water.
John Jay’s political and personal success
was partly due to his marriage on April 28, 1774 to Sarah Vail Brugh Livingston,
eldest daughter of Governor William Livingston. Sarah was a well educated young
lady who accompanied her husband to Spain, and later was with him in Paris.
Sarah was a society celebrity in Paris but despite her popularity missed New
York and the family estate. John Adams's daughter wrote:
Every person who knew her here bestows
many encomiums on Mrs. Jay. Madame de Lafayette said she was well acquainted
with her, and very fond of her, adding that Mrs. Jay and she thought alike, that
pleasure might be found abroad, but happiness only at home in the society of
one's family anal friends.
During the week of Washington's
inauguration Mrs. Jay arranged many of the original Presidential dinners and
receptions. President Washington dined with the Jays, privately, on his
inaugural day. A few days later Mrs. Washington was entertained at Liberty Hall
by Governor Livingston, Mrs. Livingston, and Sarah Jay who arranged the
festivities. During the summer season of 1789 hospitalities were frequently
exchanged between the president and the Jays who both resided in New York City..
The life of John Jay has been written by
his son and told also by Henry B. Renwick (New York, 1841). See "The Life and
Times of John Jay," by William Whitlock (New York, 1887). John Jay spent
the last years of his life in comfort,. Jay’s health was poor in the last two
years of his life and he was unable to walk without assistance. Jay died at his
home in New York on May. 17, 1829. He was 84 years old. He is buried in a
plainly marked plot at John Jay
Cemetery, Westchester County,
Route 1, Rye, New York.
Please join us in our mission to incorporate The Congressional Evolution of the United States of America discovery-based curriculum into the classroom of every primary and secondary school in the United States of America by July 2, 2026, the nation’s 250th birthday. , the United States of America: We The
People. Click Here
