He was a member of the first and second Continental Congresses, became Chief Justice of New York, a member of Congress, Minister to Spain (1780–82), and a member of the delegation that negotiated peace with Britain (1783). A conservative Federalist, he was Secretary of Foreign Affairs (1784–90), before becoming Chief Justice of the USA (1789–95). As special envoy to England he negotiated the Jay Treaty (1794) to settle outstanding differences resulting from the War of Independence. It enforced the terms of the Peace of Paris (1783) and ordered the British to leave their trading post in the north-west of the country. The British lost control of the lucrative fur trade and ceded a share in the trade with the West Indies to the Americans.