Signing of the Treaty of Ghent.Plaquette at the building in the Veldstraat, Ghent where the treaty was negotiated '''The Treaty of Ghent''' (), signed on 24 December 1814, in Ghent (modern day Belgium, then in limbo between the First French Empire and United Kingdom of the Netherlands), was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The treaty largely restored relations between the two nations to ''status quo ante bellum''. Because of the era's slow communications, it took weeks for news of the peace treaty to reach the United States, and the Battle of New Orleans was fought after it was signed.  ==The Agreement== On 14 December 1814, the members of the British and American negotiating teams signed and affixed their individual seals to the document, which once ratified by their respective governments, ended the war of 1812.[ The War of 1812: Treaty of Ghent] The treaty released all prisoners and restored all war lands and boats, resulting in several changes. Returned to the United States were approximately  of territory, near Lakes Superior and Michigan, in Maine, and on the Pacific coast. American-held areas of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) were returned to British control. The treaty made no major changes to the pre-war situation, but did make several promises. Britain promised to return freed black slaves, but instead a few years later paid the United States $350,000 for them.Lindsay, Arnett G. &quot;Diplomatic Relations Between the United States and Great Britain Bearing on the Return of Negro Slaves, 1783-1828.&quot; ''Journal of Negro History.'' 5:4 (October 1920); [ Knight, Charles. ''The Crown History of England.'' Oxford, England: Oxford University, 1870]. The British proposal to create an Indian buffer zone in Ohio and Michigan collapsed after the Indian coalition fell apart. The United States ignored the guarantees it made in article IX regarding American treatment of the Indians.[ Avalon Project – British-American Diplomacy – Treaty of Ghent]  ==The Aftermath== News of the treaty finally reached the United States after the American victory in the Battle of New Orleans and the British victory in the Battle of Fort Bowyer, but before the British assault on Mobile, Alabama. Skirmishes occurred between U.S. troops and British-allied Indians along the Mississippi River frontier for months after the treaty, including the Battle of the Sink Hole in May 1815.  The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the treaty on 16 February 1815, and President James Madison exchanged ratification papers with a British diplomat in Washington on 17 February; the treaty was proclaimed on 18 February. Eleven days later, on 1 March Napoleon escaped from Elba, starting the war in Europe again, and forcing the British to concentrate on the threat he posed.  