Treaty of Ghent

The Treaty of Ghent, signed on 24 December 1814 in the Flemish city of Ghent, was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom. The treaty restored relations between the two nations to status quo ante bellum - that is, it restored the borders of the two countries to the line before the commencement of hostilities. The Treaty was ratified by Parliament on 30 December 1814 and signed into law by the Prince Regent (the future King George IV). Because of the era's lack of telecommunications, it took weeks for news of the peace treaty to reach the United States. An American army under Andrew Jackson scored a major victory at the Battle of New Orleans in the 8th of January 1815. However, the Treaty of Ghent was not in effect until it was ratified by the U.S. Senate (unanimously) in February 1815.

Background
After the abdication of Napoleon in April 1814 British public opinion demanded major gains in the war against the United States. The senior American representative in London told Secretary of State James Monroe:
 * There are so many who delight in War that I have less hope than ever of our being able to make peace. You will perceive by the newspapers that a very great force is to be sent from Bordeaux to the United States; and the order of the day is division of the States and conquest. The more moderate think that when our Seaboard is laid waste and we are made to agree to a line which shall exclude us from the lakes; to give up a part of our claim on Louisiana and the privilege of fishing on the banks, etc. peace may be made with us.

However the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, aware of growing opposition to wartime taxation and the demands of Liverpool and Bristol merchants to reopen trade with America, realized Britain had little to gain and much to lose from prolonged warfare.

After rejecting Russian proposals to broker peace negotiations, Britain reversed course in 1814. With the defeat of Napoleon the main British goals of stopping American trade with France and impressment of sailors from American ships were dead letters. Negotiations were held in Ghent, Kingdom of the Netherlands, starting in August, 1814. The Americans sent top leaders, including Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams and Albert Gallatin, while the British sent minor officials who kept in close touch with their (much closer) superiors in London.

Negotiations
As the peace talks opened, the British demanded the creation of an Indian barrier state in the American Northwest Territory (the area from Ohio to Wisconsin). It was understood the British would sponsor this Indian state. They also demanded that Americans not have any naval forces on the Great Lakes and that the British get certain transit rights to the Mississippi River in exchange for continuation of American fishing rights off Newfoundland. The U.S. rejected the demands and there was an impasse. American public opinion was outraged when Madison published the demands - then even the Federalists were willing to fight on.

During the negotiations the British had three invasions underway. One force carried out a burning of Washington, D.C., but the troops and fleet failed to capture Baltimore in the Battle of Baltimore. The British fleet sailed away when the army commander was killed. In northern New York State, 10,000 British troops marched south until a decisive defeat at the Battle of Plattsburgh forced them back to Canada. Nothing was known then of the fate of the third large invasion force that intended to capture New Orleans and the southwestern territory (at that time. E.g. Louisiana and Mississippi). The British Prime Minister wanted Arthur Wellesly, the Duke of Wellington, to go to command in Canada and with the assignment of winning the War. Wellesley replied that he would go to America, but he believed that he was needed in Europe. He also stated:

"I think you have no right, from the state of war, to demand any concession of territory from America... You have not been able to carry it into the enemy's territory, notwithstanding your military success, and now undoubted military superiority, and have not even cleared your own territory on the point of attack. You cannot on any principle of equality in negotiation claim a cession of territory except in exchange for other advantages which you have in your power... Then if this reasoning be true, why stipulate for the uti possidetis? You can get no territory: indeed, the state of your military operations, however creditable, does not entitle you to demand any."

The British Government dropped all of its demands, and then the negotiators agreed to a treaty that called for no change in territory. Prisoners would be exchanged, and captured slaves returned to the United States or be paid for by Britain (who paid for them).

Agreement
On December 24, 1814, the members of the British and American negotiating teams signed and affixed their individual seals to the document. It didn't end the war itself—that required formal ratification by their governments, which came in February 1815. The treaty released all prisoners and restored all captured lands and ships. Returned to the United States were approximately 10000000 acre of territory, near Lakes Superior and Michigan, and in Maine. American-held areas of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) were returned to British control. The treaty thus made no significant changes to the prewar boundaries, although the U.S. did gain territory from Spain. Britain promised to return the freed black slaves that they had taken. In actuality, a few years later Britain instead paid the United States $1,204,960 for them. Both nations also promised to work towards an ending of the international slave trade.

Aftermath
News of the treaty finally reached the United States after the major American victory in the Battle of New Orleans and the local British victory in the Second Battle of Fort Bowyer, but before the British assault on Mobile, Alabama. Skirmishes occurred between U.S. troops and British-allied Indians along the Mississippi River frontier for months after the treaty, including the Battle of the Sink Hole in May 1815.

Carr argues that Britain negotiated the Treaty of Ghent with the goal of ending the war, even though it knew a major British expedition had been ordered to seize New Orleans. Carr says that Britain had no intention of repudiating the treaty and continuing the war had victory been theirs at the Battle of New Orleans

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the treaty on 16 February 1815, and President James Madison exchanged ratification papers with a British diplomat in Washington on 17 February; the treaty was proclaimed on 18 February. Eight days later, on 26 February, Napoleon escaped from Elba, starting the war in Europe again, and forcing the British to concentrate on the threat he posed.

Memorials
In 1922, the Fountain of Time was dedicated in Washington Park, Chicago, commemorating 110 years of peace between the United States and Britain. The Peace Bridge between Buffalo, New York, and Fort Erie, Ontario, opened in 1927 to commemorate a century of peace between the United States and Canada.