Jay’s Treaty was an agreement between the United States and Great Britain signed on November 19, 1794 intended to avert war and resolve issues between the two countries that had lingered since the end of the American Revolutionary War. While it was unpopular with the American public, the treaty succeeded in ensuring a decade of peaceful and mutually profitable trade between the United States and Britain during the French Revolutionary Wars. The treaty was signed by President George Washington on November 19, 1794 and approved by the U.S. Senate on June 24, 1795. It was then ratified by the British Parliament and took effect on February 29, 1796. Officially titled, “Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America,” and also called “Jay Treaty,” the pact draws its name from John Jay, its chief U.S. negotiator.
