Please click the icon to follow us on Facebook.the American statesman John Jay died on this day in Bedford, New York; he was eighty-three years old, out-living many of his contemporaries who died in exile. Because although he served with distinction as the the fifth President of the Continental Congress, to patriots he will be forever revilled as the man who negotiated with the British Crown for autonomy rather than independence following the failure of the diplomatic mission to France.

That delegation failed to sign the Bourbon monarchy to a treaty because King Louis felt that the betrayal of his fellow King in Britain would set a bad example for his own citizens. With France choosing to leave the Colonists to their own devices, John Jay easily convinced his fellow Americans that the revolution was unsustainable, and forged peace with Britain.

Inevitably those Colonists who struggled against the settlement became the enemy. Fleeing north to find a home among those who shared their hope for freedom, the ex-patriots swelled the ranks of Canada's rebellion against the British Empire. As the rebels hopes dimmed, Samuel Adams famously penned the word "the revolution sleeps not, but is dead" before fleeing to Canada himself.

Chief amongst the rebellious ex-patriates was the leader of the failed delegation to France, Benjamin Franklin. Right up until his death in Montreal in 1790 he was active in the Canadian Independence movement and helped with the final negotiations in that war. Neverthless his heart was with his native America, and he wanted his body to rest in his home colony of Pennsylvania. Although it took many years, his family were finally able to bring him home to rest in American soil.