Treaty of Ghent
Ghent, Belgium (then the United Netherlands)
What happened
American negotiators including John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay and Albert Gallatin met British negotiators led by Lord Gambier. After more than two years of the War of 1812, the United States and Britain sent diplomats to Ghent to make peace. They agreed to put things back the way they were before the war. Borders stayed the same, and prisoners, captured land and ships were returned.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It ended the War of 1812 with neither side gaining land. It began more than two hundred years of mostly peaceful relations between the United States and Britain.
What came next
The treaty was signed on Christmas Eve 1814, but news crossed the Atlantic slowly, and the Battle of New Orleans was fought in January 1815. The US Senate approved the treaty unanimously in February 1815.
Did you know?
Britain promised to return enslaved people it had freed during the war, but in 1826 paid compensation instead.
Timeline
- June 1812The War of 1812 begins.
- 24 December 1814The Treaty of Ghent is signed.
- 8 January 1815The Battle of New Orleans is fought.
- 16 February 1815The US Senate approves the treaty.
- 17 February 1815Ratifications are exchanged and the war ends.