John Jay

John Jay (December 23, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American politician, statesman, slave owner, and diplomat. He was the Chief Justice of the United States and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Jay served in the Continental Congress and was elected its president. During and after the American Revolution, he was a minister (ambassador) to Spain and France and helped to fashion American foreign policy and secure favorable peace terms from the British and the French. He also co-wrote the Federalist Papers with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.

From 1789 to 1795, Jay served on the Supreme Court as the first Chief Justice of the United States.  In 1794, he negotiated the Jay Treaty with the British. A leader of the new Federalist Party, Jay was the second governor of New York from 1795 to 1801.

He was the leading opponent of slavery and the slave trade in New York. He tried but failed to pass an emancipation law in 1777 and again in 1785. However, in 1799, he succeeded and signed the law that eventually emancipated the slaves of New York, the last of whom were freed shortly before his death.

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Category:1745 births
Category:1829 deaths
Category:Deaths from stroke
Category:Chief justices of the United States
Category:Founding Fathers of the United States
Category:United States Supreme Court justices
Category:Politicians from New York City
Category:Slavers
Category:Governors of New York (state)
Category:Lawyers from New York City
Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Spain