The War of 1812 Was Not Over When the Battle of New Orleans Was Fought

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I remember encoutering the "fact" it was over a number of times in the past. But, although a peace treaty had been negotiated in Ghent and signed on Christmas Eve of 1814, it was not ratified by the US Senate until February 15, 1815. The war was not officially over until then.

Comments

  1. Bob Murphy6:37 PM

    Ha ha I misunderstood your post title at first. I thought you were saying they didn't start a war over the dating of a battle. (Like, "The Civil War was not over slavery.")

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  2. Calgacus4:50 PM

    Common misuse. The Senate doesn't ratify treaties. The President does after the Senate consents to them. And if he doesn't (it's happened when there is a new Pres), the treaty isn't law. So if you want to pick an even smaller nit, it could have been whenever the President ratified after February 15. Hope he remembered to, otherwise we might get drafted to fight the British.

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    Replies
    1. gcallah5:07 PM

      Thank you. I stand corrected.

      Delete

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