| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article reinterprets the Jay treaty by taking seriously the Republican criticism of the treaty's western provisions, which created a porous border between the United States and British-Canada. It argues that Laurentine merchants-entrepreneurs interested in the trade of the extended St. Lawrence River valley-used the Jay treaty as a charter, protecting their commercial and political rights as British subjects residing and trading in the United States. By exploring the conflicts between Laurentine merchants and federal officials over the terms of the Jay charter, this article opens a window on the complex process of state formation in the Anglo-American borderland between 1796 and 1819. It argues that state formation involved a wide array of activities and innovations at both the center and the periphery. More specifically, the article points to the important role that diplomacy, Republican commercial policy, and legal definitions of citizenship played in the creation of an American national state.
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