Jay's Treaty
The purpose of Jay's Treaty, ratified on February 29, 1796, was to relieve post-war tensions between Great Britain and the United States. It was an agreement that is credited with averting war, resolving unaddressed issues from the Treaty of Paris in 1783, and facilitating ten years of relatively peaceful trade between the United States and Britain in the midst of the French Revolutionary Wars .
Map of North America after the Treaty of Paris
The map shows major territorial concessions following the Treaty of Paris. Disputes arising over the failure of British troops to leave some of the territories ceded by the British in the Treaty of Paris, as well as British instigation of conflicts between Native Americans and the newly established United States, ultimately contributed to the need for Jay's Treaty in 1796.
Background of the Treaty
When the thirteen British colonies in America declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776, their most obvious potential ally was France. The Treaty of Alliance was a defensive pact formed between France and the United States in 1778 (in the midst of the American Revolutionary War) that promised U.S. military support for France, indefinitely into the future, in case of attack by British forces. With the outbreak of the French Revolution, however, the United States declared its neutrality in the French-British conflict. After the Citizen Genêt Affair, relations between the United States and France were strained.
The Citizen Genêt Affair spurred Great Britain to instruct its naval commanders in the West Indies to seize all ships trading with the French. The British captured hundreds of American ships and their cargoes, increasing the possibility of war between the United States and Britain. In this tense situation, Great Britain worked to prevent a wider conflict by ending its seizure of American ships and offered to pay for captured cargoes. Hamilton saw an opportunity and recommended to President Washington that the United States negotiate. John Jay was sent to Britain—with instructions from Hamilton—to secure compensation for captured American ships; to ensure the British leave the northwest outposts they still occupied (despite the terms of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which recognized this as American territory); and to gain an agreement for American trade in the West Indies.
For the British, ongoing war with France necessitated improved relations with the United States to prevent the States from supporting the French in the Revolutionary Wars. For the Americans, the most pressing foreign-policy issues were the following:
- British troops were still occupying forts on U.S. territory in the Great Lakes region (also known as the Northwest Territory) that were recognized as part of American soil by the Treaty of Paris.
- The British were continually impressing American merchant sailors into British service, thereby violating the American flag flying on American ships in the Atlantic.
- American merchants wanted compensation for approximately 250 merchant ships that the British had confiscated from 1793 to 1794.
- Southern slaveholders sought monetary compensation for the slaves that the British Army had evacuated or freed during the Revolutionary War.
- Merchants in both America and in the Caribbean wanted the British West Indies to be reopened to American trade.
Terms of the Treaty
The terms of the treaty were designed primarily by Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, and negotiated by John Jay, all with the support of President Washington. Overall, the treaty achieved the primary goal of the withdrawal of the British Army from the Northwest Territory of the United States: The British agreed to vacate the six western forts by June 1796. Furthermore, both the American and British negotiating parties agreed that disputes over wartime debts and the American-Canadian boundary were to be sent to arbitration commissions. Finally, the United States was granted limited rights to trade with British possessions in India and the West Indies in exchange for some limits on the American export of cotton.
The British also agreed to compensate American ship owners for captured vessels. In return, the United States designated Britain with a "most favored nation" trading status and acquiesced to British anti-French maritime policies. American commercial access to British territories was extended, and the United States guaranteed the payment of private pre-war debts owed by Americans to British merchants. However, Jay failed to negotiate an end to British impressments; this spurred arguments against ratifying the treaty and the issue remained unresolved until the War of 1812.
Political Division in the United States
Washington submitted Jay's Treaty to the U.S. Senate for its consent in June 1794 (requiring a two-thirds vote to pass). Although the two nations reached an agreement, an accord between the Federalists and Democrat-Republicans proved difficult to attain. Jay's Treaty was hotly contested by Democratic-Republicans, who feared that closer economic ties with Britain would strengthen the Federalist Party by promoting commercial interests at the expense of yeoman agriculture. They feared it would also undercut republicanism by tying the United States' interests to the British monarchy. They were opposed to granting a "most favored nation" trading status to Britain, as they considered Britain the epitome of political corruption and aristocratic distinction and a major threat to the United States' republican values.
The Federalists fought back and made a strong, systematic appeal to public opinion. They marshaled their own supporters and shifted the debate toward highlighting American neutrality and the other concessions won from Britain (such as the Northwest Territory and merchant compensations). Washington's support proved decisive, and the treaty was ratified by a two-thirds majority of the Senate in November 1794. However, Jay's Treaty remained a central issue of contention, with the Federalists favoring Britain and the Democratic-Republicans favoring France in the French-British conflict.
Effects of the Treaty
Traditionally considered a "diplomatic failure" or a "bad bargain" by most scholars, Jay's Treaty has never seemed to overcome its initial unpopularity. Recently, however, historians have argued that Jay's Treaty was a notable attempt by America to avoid war and long-term instability until the nation was prepared for it. As a fledgling republic, the United States had no effective navy and only a small standing army, and was isolated from the entanglements in Europe that had led to wars and violence throughout the Atlantic. Indeed, the controversial aspects of the treaty revolved not around the give-and-take terms that were to be expected from any diplomatic compromises, but rather around the outbreak of political hostilities between Federalists and Democrat-Republicans. Their polarized views of America's foreign presence proscribed any agreement on international conduct during this tumultuous period.