The Jays celebrated the Fourth of July, 1783, at Passy, outside Paris, in the company of Benjamin Franklin and various American and French friends. Franklin began this practice in 1778. The following is an excerpt of a letter from Sarah Livingston Jay to her sister, Kitty Livingston, of 16 July 1783, describing her feelings on […]
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Joseph Ellis QUARTET podcast
Listen to Joseph Ellis talk about his latest book, Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789. Hint: John Jay is a featured soloist in the ensemble. Stacy Schiff moderated the May 14th 2015 talk, in which Ellis explains “how Washington, Hamilton, Jay, and Madison helped orchestrate the complex political process that ultimately resulted in the […]
The Graduate
The Graduate Today, Columbia University held its 261st commencement ceremony. May 22 will mark the 251st anniversary of John Jay’s graduation from Columbia, or rather King’s College (founded 1754). John Jay entered King’s in 1760 (age 14 1/2). King’s was the logical choice for Jay to attend, and not merely because of its location; his […]
Traversing the Green Woods with John Jay
While taking notes on John Jay’s Circuit Court Diary, I came across a brief entry, which at first glance, seemed fairly typical of the information that Jay recorded in his journal. Penned in the fall of 1790, the single line read as follows: [Octr] 13 Dine’d at Phelps in Gr[een] Woods tolerably clean[1] Much of my work […]
King George III’s private papers to go online…and of course Mr. Jay is there.
According to the BBC, George III’s private papers are to go online. Noted in their article is “a letter from US Founding Father John Jay to George Washington, dated 1781.” However, the letter they are referring to is not from Jay, but to Jay from Washington, dated 22 October 1781. In it, Washington sent Jay […]
More on George Washington’s Royal Gift
The Papers of George Washington have just released the fourth video in their series on Washington’s farm animals. This episode features Royal Gift, the donkey sent to him by the King of Spain. Watch here. […]
Jay, Washington,. . .and donkeys and mules?
Mary Wigge, a research editor with The Financial Papers of George Washington, posted a fascinating piece yesterday in their project blog on George Washington’s Spanish donkey, Royal Gift, a gift to Washington from King Charles III of Spain. Now, you may not usually associate donkeys and George Washington, but Washington was largely responsible for the […]
The Selected Papers of John Jay is now on Rotunda!
The Selected Papers of John Jay are now available on Rotunda! It’s available open access for a few days, after which you can sign up for a 48 hour free trial. […]
Happy Constitution Day! Part 2.
Today is Constitution Day, the commemoration of the signing of the Constitution by the members of the Constitutional Convention, in Philadelphia, on 17 September 1787. But that was just the beginning. A long struggle, filled with passionate debate, followed before the Constitution was finally ratified by the United States and a new government was formed. […]
Happy Constitution Day! Part 1
See the Columbia University Office of Government and Community Affairs tribute to Mr. Jay and his involvement in the Ratification of the Constitution here. […]