The Jay Treaty Cools Rising Tensions Between America and England
While the Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolution, two key provisions laid out in the agreement had not been followed by England since its signing. The British had never evacuated their forts in the Northwest Territory and, to make matters worse, they encouraged their Indian allies to terrorize any American settlers in the region. They had also continued their habit of taking British-born sailors off American merchant ships and forcing them to serve on British warships, a practice known as impressment. President Washington, worried our new nation was drifting towards a war it was ill-prepared to fight, sent John Jay, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to England to negotiate a settlement.
Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, explores how the Jay Treaty resolved rising tensions between America and England, and why it still matters today.
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The Jay Treaty, officially known as the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, was signed on November 19, 1794. Its primary goal was to cool rising tensions between England and America over issues remaining from the American Revolution.