John Jay
John Jay always seems to be one of those founding fathers that people can name but are never quite sure what he specifically did. I am here to hopefully clear up some of the mystery behind this patriot. Jay was born in 1745 in New York. Although he detested the rule of England over his homeland, John still wasn’t completely up for a total revolution.
One of his defining characteristics was a belief in justice and order. He felt that the colonies would need a strong government ready to establish order as soon as the English were out. His peers’ respect of his convictions even allowed Jay to become President of the Continental Congress.
The Revolutionary War was eventually ended thanks to Jay signing the Treaty of Paris that he negotiated with the English. Not only that, but he ensured the two countries could trade peacefully after the fact with the Jay Treaty. Back home, John Jay attended the Constitutional Convention and helped write the crucially important Federalist Papers.
Under this new Constitutional government structure, Jay became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and afterwards served as the Governor of New York. Thanks to his efforts as Governor, an emancipation bill was passed that freed slaves in New York. John Jay would die in 1829, remembered as a pillar of justice and integrity in the early United States.