1979/07/01 by JAMES A. CARR, James A. Carr · 2 citations
Environmental Science · #American Environmental and Regional History
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1467-7709.1979.tb00315.x
openalex publication_date 1979/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
When the American forces under Major General Andrew Jackson defeated a highly regarded British army at New Orleans on 8 January 1815, the treaty ending hostilities between the United States and Great Britain had been signed two weeks previously at Ghent in Belgium. However, due to unusually bad weather over the Atlantic, it was not until 15 February 1815 that the treaty arrived in Washington. Since the American government quickly ratified the document and Britain had already done so, it would seem clear that the Battle of New Orleans had no effect on the diplomacy of the conflict, but was rather an unnecessary though unavoidable expenditure of lives and effort. The prior signing of the peace treaty notwithstanding, there are those, including several reputable historians, who over the years have continued to claim that had the British been victorious at New Orleans, they would have disavowed the Treaty of Ghent and retained possession of Louisiana indefinitely, if not permanently, thus frustrating the westward expansion of the United States.1 Before examining the arguments of this group, which for convenience shall be referred to as the New Orleans School, it is helpful to summarize the general course of the war and the European situation at that time.