John Jay Chosen as President of Continental Congress

Background. The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies with some executive function that acted as the provisional government for the Thirteen Colonies and the newly declared United States before, during, and after the Revolutionary War. After independence was declared in 1776, the president of the Congress functioned as head of state of its central government.

Jay's Path to the Presidency. Jay had been elected to the First Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association. Before returning to Congress, New York's Provincial Congress had elected him Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court of Judicature on May 8, 1777, a post he held for two years.

The Election of December 10, 1778. The Continental Congress turned to Jay, a political adversary of the previous president Henry Laurens, only three days after Jay became a delegate, and elected him President of the Continental Congress. He served from December 10, 1778, to September 28, 1779, after which he was appointed Minister to Spain on September 27, 1779.