Jay’s Treaty

Jay’s Treaty, treaty negotiated in 1794 to resolve the outstanding differences between the United States and Great Britain. The treaty was drafted by the American statesman and jurist John Jay and the British foreign secretary Baron William Grenville. The agreement was intended both to settle long-standing differences between the U.S. and Great Britain and to secure American neutrality during the time of the French Revolution in Europe.

Anglo-American differences arose in part from violations of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which had ended the American Revolution. The Jay treaty provided for the evacuation of British posts on the northwestern frontier of the U.S. and for the appointment of arbitration commissions to define boundaries between the U.S. and Canada. It also provided for a commission to determine America's compensation from Britain for the illegal seizure of ships and for the payment by Americans of prewar debts owed to British merchants. The treaty failed to resolve a dispute over American trade with the British West Indies, and provisions granting Britain most-favored-nation status prevented the U.S. from strengthening its own commerce by restricting British shipping and goods.

The treaty aroused great opposition among the public and in the Congress. It was ratified by a very narrow margin in the U.S. Senate in June 1795; the House of Representatives then waged a lengthy, but unsuccessful, campaign to withhold appropriations for its implementation. Its ratification was critical in the formation of the first national political parties. Despite its unpopularity, the treaty has long been regarded as the best the U.S. could have obtained under the circumstances. American neutrality was preserved and commerce flourished under its terms until it expired in 1805.