John Jay And American-Spanish Negotiations On The Mississippi River Dispute (1780-1787)

As an important leader and diplomat in the American Revolution and Confederation, John Jay has played a unique role in the stage of struggle for independence and the construction of the new regime in America, where dispute in Mississippi is especially prominent. Because it doesn’t only reflect Jay’s diplomatic thoughts and strategy, but also sees the building of political power during the Confederation, as well as the complex and volatile situation in European diplomacy. This thesis explores it completely and evaluates it objectively on the basis of documents and from the viewpoint of controversial issues in academic circles. Jay did not advocated completely give up the Mississippi River Shipping, but the realist foreign idea made him placing this issue under the diplomatic background of the American Revolution and Confederation period, in order to obtain independence and consolidate for the top priority, so he advocated temporarily compromise on this issue, to wait for a better opportunity to deal with this disputes.