Treaty of Ghent - Definition and Overview

The Treaty of Ghent, signed on December 24, 1814, in Ghent, Belgium, ended the War of 1812 between the United States and United Kingdom.

Fighting continued for several weeks after signing the treaty, including the Battle of New Orleans, because news of the treaty took time to reach North America. However, by terms of the treaty, the war was not officially over until ratifications were exchanged and the treaty proclaimed. The U.S. Senate unanimously advised ratification on February 16, 1815. President James Madison ratified the treaty on February 17 at which time the ratifications were exchanged. The treaty was proclaimed on February 18.

Signatories for the UK included Henry Goulburn. The Peace Commission representing the United States included Albert Gallatin, Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, and John Holmes.

In signing the treaty, the Americans ended up abandoning both of their primary goals in starting the war: to expand their territory by seizing control of the British colonies to the north in what would later become Canada, and to stop the forcible boarding of soverign U.S. ships on the high seas by the warships of the British Royal Navy searching for deserters and enforcing the British blockade against Napoléon. However, as the Napoleonic Wars ended, the second issue began to fade on its own.

See also

• List of treaties
• Timeline of United States diplomatic history
• Treaty's text in Wikisource

External link

• Text of treaty from the Avalon Project (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/britian/ghent.htm)