The Treaty of Ghent

On December 24, 1814, British and American representatives who had been meeting in Belgium signed the Treaty of Ghent. This agreement would end the War of 1812. Did that mean that the Battle of New Orleans, fought on January 8, 1815, was unnecessary?

The war was not over when the treaty was signed on December 24. In fact, it would last almost two more months. The newly signed treaty stated that fighting between the United States and Britain would stop when both governments ratified the treaty. In the case of the United States, that meant approval by Congress. Congress ratified the treaty on February 15, 1815.

The British had not asked for an immediate end to fighting. They were worried that the United States might ask for other revisions. In fact, the British official who brought the treaty to the United States also brought a copy of the British ratification. He had instructions to stop hostilities only if the United States ratified the treaty with no changes. What this meant was that fighting had to continue.

So what if the British had won the Battle of New Orleans and captured the third most important port in the United States? Would the treaty have been re-negotiated?

Likely not. The treaty said that land captured during the war would return to its original country of ownership. This included any land captured between the signing, and the ratification. By this time, too, the British were more interested in making sure of their claims in Canada than in starting a new colony in Louisiana. But since the best defense is a good offense, the British wanted to continue treaty negotiations from a strong position, and so continued their attacks on American land to make sure that the Americans would agree to peace.

From muskets to tactics, from past events to historical people and places, you can find out more about the War of 1812 at the links below.