John Jay
Founding Father and statesman
John Jay was an American Founding Father and the first Chief Justice of the United States. He wrote five of the essays in The Federalist Papers.
1 summary 17 min of listening
American Born 1745 in New York City Died 1829
About John Jay
John Jay (1745 to 1829) was born in New York City into a wealthy family of merchants and city officials. After becoming a lawyer, he joined the New York Committee of Correspondence and helped organize American resistance to British policies before the American Revolution. He later served as President of the Continental Congress and as ambassador to Spain, and he helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris, by which Britain accepted American independence. He also served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Jay favoured a strong central government and worked to win ratification of the US Constitution in New York in 1788. As part of that effort he wrote five of the 85 essays in The Federalist Papers, alongside Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. President George Washington appointed him the first Chief Justice of the United States, a post he held from 1789 to 1795. He then served as governor of New York from 1795 to 1801, and he signed a gradual emancipation law in 1799.