Digital History

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.