Jay's Treaty | clydeblockhouse

Jay's Treaty of 1795

The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, commonly known as the Jay Treaty, and also as Jay's Treaty, was a 1795 treaty between the United States and Great Britain that resolved issues remaining since the Treaty of Paris of 1783 (which had ended the Revolutionary War).

During negotiations in 1794, the first settlers arrived at Sodus Bay. Almost immediately, the British landed troops at the Bay and demanded that they leave. This incident became what is known as the Simcoe Affair, named after Governor John Simcoe of Canada.

The stated reason for this aggression was given in a written declaration as follows:

"I am commanded to declare that, during the inexecution of the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States, and until the existing difficulties respecting it shall be mutually and finally adjusted, the taking possession of any part of the Indian territory, either for the purposes of war or sovereignty, is held to be a direct violation of his Britannic Majesty's rights, as they unquestionably existed before the treaty, and has the immediate tendency to interrupt, and in its progress to destroy, that good understanding which has hitherto subsisted between his Britannic Majesty and the United States of America. I therefore require you to desist from any such aggression."

The above demand may seem odd, given that setters had been in the Wayne County area since 1789. However, one must understand that the British, prior to the Revolution, had uninhibited access to Sodus Bay. They had constructed a post there in 1722, and had built a blockhouse at Clyde the same year. The burned ruins of the British fort built at Clyde in 1756 still existed at the time, and Sodoms appeared on the very maps being used in negotiating Jay's Treaty. Sodoms was a name for both Sodus Bay and the Block-House (Clyde).

In 1764, the peace treaty to end Pontiac's War was signed by Sir William Johnson at Fort Niagara. The fifth provision of the treaty, agreed to by the Seneca Indians, gave Britain:

"the use of the Harbours of Orundequat [Irondequoit], and Asserotus with liberty of erecting Places of Security at them."

The importance of getting the Senecas to agree to this stipulation was summed up in discussions between Sir William Johnson and Thomas Gage, when it was suggested that "from the importance of Aserotus & Arundiquat (both along Ontario) the former as a harbour for Vessells, the latter for Boats, and being a Convenient & near rout into their Country, That we might be at liberty to make use of them, or Erect places of security at them, whenever we found it necessary."

Robert R. Rankin, in his 1907 book titled The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between Great Britain and the United States, states that the British were to abandon ten forts under the terms of Jay's Treaty. Among these was one referred to as Great Sodus Fort. This is clearly a reference to Sodoms and the Clyde Blockhouse.

Though Sodoms was ruined by the time of Jay's Treaty, the Simcoe Affair arose due to British interest in maintaining a foothold at the location. This explains their insistence that settlers leave Sodus Bay, and also the stories that "marauding British soldiers" used the Blockhouse.

For more information on the Jay Treaty, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Treaty

For more information on the 1764 Treaty of Fort Niagara, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Fort_Niagara