Guest Essayist: Brenda Hafera, Finance and Events Co-Ordinator at the Matthew J. Ryan Center For the Study of Free Institutions and the Public Good at Villanova University
John Jay is often lost in the long shadow cast by the legacies and genius of his Federalist co-authors, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. Indeed, Jay authored only five of the eighty-five articles. This was not because his co-authors doubted his abilities or influence, but because Jay was stricken with illness and unable to contribute further. John Jay was a politician, patriot, Chief Justice, and a man of deep and seasoned principles. Being so driven by principle, one of the great causes Jay undertook was to limit the institution of slavery however possible in America. This endeavor is the subject of his “Letter to the English Anti-Slavery Society.” Read more