 "The Signing of the Treaty of Ghent, Christmas Eve, 1814" by Charles Amédée Forestier. The leading British delegate Lord Gambier is shaking hands with the American leader John Quincy Adams. The British Undersecretary of State for War and the Colonies, Henry Goulburn, is carrying a red folder. | |
| Type | Bilateral peace treaty |
|---|---|
| Signed | December 24, 1814 |
| Location | Ghent, Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands |
| Effective | February 17, 1815 |
| Signatories |  Lord Gambier Henry Goulburn William Adams John Quincy Adams James Bayard Henry Clay Jonathan Russell Albert Gallatin |
| Parties | United Kingdom United States |
| Full text | |
 Treaty of Ghent at Wikisource | |
The Treaty of Ghent (8 Stat. 218) was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands (now in Belgium). The treaty restored relations between the two parties to status quo ante bellum by restoring the pre-war borders of June 1812.[a][1] Both sides were eager to end the war. It ended when the treaty arrived in Washington and was immediately ratified unanimously by the United States Senate and exchanged with British officials the next day.
The treaty was approved by the British Parliament and signed into law by the Prince Regent (the future King George IV) on December 30, 1814. It took a month for news of the treaty to reach the United States, during which American forces under Andrew Jackson won the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815.[2] U.S. President James Madison signed the treaty and exchanged final ratified copies with the British ambassador on February 17, 1815.
The treaty began more than two centuries of peaceful relations between the United States and the United Kingdom despite a few tense moments, such as the Aroostook War in 1838–39, the Pig War in 1859, and the Trent Affair in 1861.
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- ^ Smith 1999, p. 3–20.
- ^ "The Senate Approves for Ratification the Treaty of Ghent". United States Senate.