John Jay

John Jay (1745-1829) was the first Chief Justice of the United States. During and after the American Revolution, he was the US ambassador to Spain, a negotiator of the Treaty of Paris by which Great Britain recognized American independence, and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. His major diplomatic achievement was the 1794 Treaty of London, in which favorable trade terms with Great Britain were negotiated. As a leader of the Federalist Party, Jay became governor of New York state, where he was the leading opponent of slavery. By signing the 1799 "Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery" into law, he granted all slaves in New York freedom by the year 1827.