Jay Treaty
© Library of Congress, Manuscript Division
Shortly after the American Revolution, John Jay traveled to Britain to resolve
outstanding issues within the Treaty of Paris. He worked with the British Prime
Minister on issues of debt settlement, British withdrawal, trade agreements, and the
fur trade. This meeting resulted in what became known as the Jay Treaty, in 1794. This
treaty allowed British citizens, who remained in Michigan, to maintain all property
including enslaved Africans and Native Americans.
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In 1782, Lord Shelburne and Richard Oswald negotiated with the United States the
terms of their surrender and retreat from the newly formed United States of
America. Many of the terms of the Treaty of Paris were criticized, specifically the
border established between Canada and the United States and the abandonment of
British Loyalists and Indian allies (Combs 4).
In 1794, Chief Justice John Jay traveled to Britain to resolve outstanding issues and
negotiate the terms of what became the Jay Treaty (Estes 15). Among these
unresolved issues were the still occupied British forts in Detroit and
Michilimackinac, the fur trade, a trade agreement between the two countries, debt
settlement and United States compensation for slaves that left with the British
(Estes 16). On November 19, 1794 John Jay and the British Prime Minister, Lord
William Wyndham Grenville, signed the Jay Treaty. It outlined a free trade
agreement, guidelines for British removal from the United States, and debt
settlement (Estes 29). British troops were required to withdraw from fur trading
posts and forts no later than June 1, 1796 (Estes 29). Many slaveholding Americans
were outraged that the treaty did not address compensation for fugitives that
escaped enslavement during the American Revolution (Estes 31). Between July and
May of 1795 the United States government debated over ratifying the Jay Treaty or
further negotiating with Britain for a better treaty (Estes 15). Congress divided over
various terms of the treaty, specifically foreign policy (Combs 172).
On February 29, 1796 the terms of the Jay Treaty took effect and Britain was
forcibly removed from Michigan. The population of the city of Detroit was later
made up of French fur traders, English and Scottish merchants, Native American
merchants, and Native American and African slaves (Dunbar 103). Under the Treaty
of Paris and the Jay Treaty, British citizens living in Michigan were allowed the right
to their property, including slaves, despite the prohibition of slavery under the
Northwest Ordinance of 1787 (Powers 83).
Works Cited & Further Reading
Combs, Jerald A. The Jay Treaty: Political Battleground of the Founding
Fathers. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970.
Dunbar, Willis Frederick, and George S May. Michigan: A History of the Wolverine
State. Grand Rapids: Eerdman, 1995.
Estes, Todd. The Jay Treaty Debate, Public Opinion, and the Evolution of Early
American Political Culture. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2006.
Murrin, John M., Paul E. Johnson, James M. McPherson, Alice Fahs, et al. Liberty,
Equality, Power: A History of the American People. Boston: Thomson
Wadsworth, 2008.
Powers, Perry Francis and Harry Gardner Cutler. A History of Northern Michigan and
its People. Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1912.
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