The
Treaty of Ghent , signed on December 24, 1814 in the city of
Ghent, was the peace treaty that ended the
War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. The treaty restored relations between the two nations to
status quo ante bellum, restoring the borders of the two countries to the lines before the war started in June 1812. The Treaty was approved by the UK parliament and signed into law by the Prince Regent (the future
King George IV) on December 30 1814. It took a month for news of the peace treaty to reach the United States, and in the meantime American forces under
Andrew Jackson won the
Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815. The Treaty of Ghent was not fully in effect until it was ratified by the U.S. Senate unanimously on February 18, 1815. It began two centuries of peaceful relations between the U.S. and Britain, although there were a few tense moments such as the
Trent Affair.