what was jay's treaty?

Answer 1

The Rev.'s answer is not bad, but this answer comes from a real historian: Me.

1. After the Revolutionary War the British refused to remove troops from northwestern forts
2. The British were also agitating the Indians to attack the Americans on the western frontier.
3. In order to fill their navy with fresh recruits, the British would impress (kidnap) American sailors and force them to serve in the British Navy
4. the British were not allowing the Americans to fish freely off the coast of Canada (as was agreed upon in the Revolutionary War's treaty)

President sent Chief Justice John Jay to England to hammer out a treaty. Jay did not have a great deal to offer England in return and in addition, Alexander Hamilton leaked America's plans to England ahead of time so they knew what to expect prior to Jay's arrival. Jay did not get much out of the treaty. In fact the very same problems existed in 1812 when we were finally forced to go to war with England a second time in the War of 1812. The Jay treaty DID however lead to a surprise treaty with Spain called Pinkney's Treaty in which we gained free navigation rights to the Mississippi River.

And there you have it.

Answer 2

Jay's Treaty occurred when President Washington held office. It was an unpopular treaty, because Great Britain was then the strongest nation in the world, and the U.S. was young and weak. America wanted the British to stop seizing our ships and men, leave the Northwest forts, stop encouraging Indian uprisings, and give us much better trade conditions.

Essentially, the British only agreed to leave the forts. It only made meager concessions on trade. The fact was that England had a very powerful navy, and it was hard for us to get them to concede much. One item that made the treaty epecially unpopular was that it allowed British businessmen to sue and get debts from Americans.

John Jay was somewhat pro-British and did not get as good of terms as some other negotiators could have. On the other hand the U.S. was not in a position to get much better terms, and it did ease British-American tensions.