The Jay Treaty Settles Long-Standing Issues

The New Nation
Written By Tom Hand

By 1794, President George Washington worried America was drifting towards another war with England that it was ill-prepared to fight. The Treasury was broke, we had only a small standing army and no navy, and war with our largest trading partner would devastate the economy.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses how the Jay Treaty helped Washington, and America, avert war, and why it still matters today.

Images Courtesy of: Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, Wikipedia

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Our nation’s capital has twice been captured by a foreign army and in both cases, it was by British Redcoats. The more famous incident was the burning of Washington on August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812. However, the first occurred 37 years before that event, in 1777, when the British captured Philadelphia, the capital of newly independent United States.

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General George Washington and his Continentals had achieved a great victory at Trenton on December 26, but the General saw another opportunity if he acted aggressively. On December 30, he recrossed the Delaware hoping for another miracle.

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In late December 1776, the American Revolution had reached its low point. The 16,000-man Continental Army that had driven the British out of Boston in March 1776, had lost countless battles over the course of nine months and dwindled to a skeletal force of 3,000 soldiers on the west side of the Delaware River.

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General George Washington formally took command of the Continental Army surrounding Boston on July 3, 1775. He immediately began to organize and train the troops and his natural aggressiveness was soon on display.

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When it came to finding the right man to command the new Continental Army assembled around Boston, George Washington was the logical choice. John Adams quickly nominated Washington and Congress unanimously approved. As Adams stated, “This appointment will have a great effect in cementing and securing the Union of these colonies.”

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As befitting a wealthy landowner in colonial Virginia, George Washington became active in the colony’s politics in the 1750s. He first ran for a seat representing Frederick County in the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1755 but lost the election. Interestingly, it was the only political race he would ever lose. Washington ran for that same seat in 1758 and was victorious, and he held this seat for seven years.

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Martha Washington was our nation’s first First Lady and lived in the shadow of her larger-than-life husband George. However, most Americans do not realize that she was a very capable woman and, when given the opportunity, managed her own affairs quite well.

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Tom Hand
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