The Treaty of Ghent

Author:   James Monroe
Date:1815

Annotation:

Ironically, American and British negotiators in Ghent, Belgium, signed a peace treaty ending the war two weeks before the Battle of New Orleans. A war-weary Britain agreed to return to conditions that existed before the war. Left unmentioned in the peace treaty were the issues over which Americans had supposedly fought the war–impressment, naval blockades, and the British Orders in Council. In this letter, President Monroe announces the Treaty of Ghent.

Document:

I have the pleasure to inform you that a treaty of peace was received last night by Mr. Carroll from Ghent, which was signed on the 24 of Dec. It is perfectly honorable to the U States. It is short, and little more than a treaty of peace. Nothing like concession is made on any point.

It is highly honorable to our country to have maintained its ground, singly, against G. Britain, & to have forced her to such a peace. This contest has been glorious to the U States, by sea and land, & its triumph at New Orleans, give it even a splendour which will make the epoch memorable in our history.

Source: Gilder Lehrman Institute