The Senate opened debate on the treaty summer 1795, and encountered major conflict over Article XII, which permitted limited trade with the British ports of the West Indies but prohibited American trade of tropical produce.  Even the Federalists agreed that this request was out of line, and moved to approve the treaty save Article XII. In twelve days of debate, the Senators did not shift opinion—in the end they voted 20-10 to approve the treaty, exactly the number of votes required.  Most Northerners supported the treaty (save Langdon of NH and Moses Robinson of Vt), and most of the opposition came from the South (Perkins, 32).

Article XII of the 1794 Treaty of Amity and Commerce was rejected by the Senate. http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/jaytreaty/15.jpg

Obstacles arose when, just as Washington was ready to ratify the treaty, the Royal Navy released the following order:
"…Commanders of our Ships of War shall, till Our further Orders herin, detain all Ships laden with Corn, or other Provisions that shall be bound to France or to the Ports occupied by the Armies of France, or which They shall have reason to believe are proceeding to France… [and they shall] bring all such Ships into… [the] Ports of Great Britain." (Perkins, 35)

Britain would pay compensation when reported of the seizures, but unsurprisingly, American support of the treaty dwindled significantly.  Secretary Randolph called the British actions "irreconcilable with a state of harmony" (Perkins, 35).

To further complicate matters, a British skipper managed to save a bundle of dispatches after taking the French ship Jean Bart, including French Minister Fauchet's Dispatch Number Ten, which implied that Secretary Randolph would be paid for serving French interests.  The dispatch made its way to Grenville and then to the minister in America, Hammond.  When Washington learned of the dispatch, he made no mention to Randolph but announced the cabinet that he meant to ratify the treaty, despite the previous agreement to hold off until the British rescinded the provision order (Perkins, 36).  Randolph resigned, and Pickering eventually replaced him as Secretary of State.

Representative Fisher Ames of Massachusetts was a strong and influential Federalist and supporter of the Jay Treaty and delivered an acclaimed speech in its favor on the floor of the House of Representatives.

While the Senate had to approve the treaty, the House of Representative was needed to raise and appropriate funds to carry out the treaty.  Edward Livingston began the debates with a constitutional dispute. He asked that the President be requested to provide the House with all the documents relevant to the Jay negotiations, sparking the question: must the House appropriate money for acts of the President approved by the Senate?  The house voted for Livingston's resolution, 62-37 (Perkins, 39), but the Washington administration and advisor Hamilton agreed that the House could not demand the papers.

The Republicans in the House, led by James Madison, reasserted their claim but then backed off out of fear of Federalist revenge.  The Federalists took the opportunity to go on the offensive by energizing public opinion and to tie the Jay treaty with more popular treaties on the House floor.  The Republican effort in the House was still looking formidable, until Fisher Ames delivered his famous speech in favor of the Jay treaty.  He insisted that the treaty did not violate the 1778 alliance with France and pointed to a shift in public opinion, and that failure to fund the treaty would be the ruin of the republic.

"The disputes of the old treaty of 1783, being left to rankle, will revive the almost extinguished animosities of that period… [and] even I, slender and almost broken as my hold upon life is, may outlive the government and constitution of my country" (Perkins, 42).