Jay was born on December 12, 1745 to one of New York's most influential families. Self-confident, he was marked from the beginning as a person of uncommon intellectual ability. He graduated from King's College (now Columbia University) in 1764 and was admitted to the New York bar four years later. I...

The penning of the Magna Carta, “Great Charter,” was birthed from an angry people’s desire to limit the power of a despotic king. The charter established a standard to which even the king was held, and would be a foundation for future nations and their governments. In 1199 the ...