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Summary
From 1812 to 1814, Czar Alexander I of Russia was faced the threat of Napoleon’s invasion of Russian soil. Alexander had no idea how much longer Napoleon would last and was unsure of his ability to hold out against the French emperor. Alexander did not want Britain distracted, fighting a far-off war against the US; he wanted Britain focused on helping him fight Napoleon instead. The Russians had already defeated Napoleon, however, by the time they finally convinced Britain and the US to come to the negotiating table in the city of Ghent (in present-day Belgium) in August, 1814.
John Quincy Adams led the US delegation, which also included “War Hawk” Henry Clay, former secretary of the treasury Albert Gallatin, James Bayard, and Jonathan Russell. By 1814, Britain’s top negotiator, the Viscount Castlereagh, was too busy with the Congress of Vienna to attend negotiations in Ghent, so lesser diplomats represented Britain.
When the negotiations began in August, Britain—angry over continued American privateering that had resulted in the destruction or theft of massive amounts of British wealth and with their forces still in a strong strategic position on the ground in America—demanded advantageous terms. They insisted on additional territory for Canada (including a large chunk of Maine that the British army occupied anyway), control of the Great Lakes, and the creation of a neutral Native American state to act as a buffer between the US and Canada. US negotiators refused the terms. The Ghent negotiations seemed in vain when suddenly the tide began to turn as news of US victories at the Battles of Baltimore and Lake Champlain reached Ghent.
With the war essentially at a stalemate, on Christmas Eve in 1814, the two sides signed the Treat of Ghent. The treaty returned US-British relations to the status they had had before the war—neither side gained or lost territory. Issues like the Orders in Council and impressment were not addressed. In the 11 articles of the treaty, no mention was made of free trade or of sailor’s rights. Albert Gallatin, who had been instructed to secure an end to impressment, wrote back to Madison that the British Navy would never agree to this. The Americans decided the return of the status quo was enough.
News of the Treaty of Ghent took a while to reach the US. As a result, Andrew Jackson’s men fought the British at New Orleans—unnecessarily, as it turned out—after the treaty had already been signed. Jackson’s lopsided victory would erroneously be credited with winning the war for the US. In truth, the war was neither won nor lost by either side and the Battle of New Orleans had no impact outside of boosting American spirits, which it did so significantly.
Analysis
The US delegation to Ghent, comprised of strong, conflicting personalities like John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, was bound to be plagued by disagreement and bickering. Henry Clay (the man who famously said, “I would rather be right than President”) could be especially difficult to get along with. Adams and Clay could hardly stand each other. Nonetheless, this group had to make peace soon, because despite the American military successes of September 1814, the war was crushing the American economy. Negotiations were not helped by comments in French newspapers in Ghent that described the British as “barbarians” for their burning of Washington.
At the Ghent peace talks, Britain was more willing to negotiate than would usually be expected. Britain had far bigger problems than the War of 1812 to worry about. Coupled with rising complaints over high taxes to sustain the war effort, they were busy negotiating a balance of power in Europe at the Congress of Vienna. As this was happening, Napoleon suddenly escaped from his exile on Elba. Faced with the sudden prospect of a resurgent, militarist France, Britain wanted to withdraw its forces from the American entanglement and return them to Europe. Although Americans proudly believed that their military valor and ability changed the course of the Ghent negotiations, Britain’s decisions regarding the War of 1812 were as influenced by events in Europe as the outcomes of the Battles of Baltimore and Lake Champlain.
Although the Treaty of Ghent addressed none of the original grievances that started the War of 1812, most Americans considered it a success, which reveals just goes to show how little the War Hawks really cared about these issues. Instead, they had just wanted an excuse to go to war. Having started the war in hopes of conquering Canada, the US now barely got out without serious damage. Although celebrated as a victory in the young US, the war really had been a draw, and one in which Britain had fought with one hand tied behind its back by Napoleon. While the treaty gained none of the initial US goals, in Britain, many people were impressed by American scrappiness. Not even Napoleon’s Grand Navy had been able to stand up to the British Navy at Trafalgar, but the US had won several naval victories. In some sense, then, stalemate became victory: no matter the particulars, the US had once again stood toe to toe with Britain and survived.
