The Webster-Ashburton Treaty, signed August 9, 1842, settled the dispute over the location of the Maine-New Brunswick border between the United States and Canada and the shared use of the Great Lakes. It also reaffirmed the location of the border (at the 49th parallel) in the westward frontier up to the Rocky Mountains, originally defined in the Treaty of 1818. It also called for a final end to the slave trade on the high seas, to be enforced by both signatories.

The Treaty was signed by United States Secretary of State Daniel Webster and United Kingdom Privy Counsellor Alexander Baring, Lord Ashburton.

This treaty marked the end of unofficial fighting (known informally as the Aroostook or Lumberjack's War) along the Maine-New Brunswick border and resolved issues that had led to the Indian Stream conflict as well as the Caroline Affair. The border was fixed with the disputed territory divided among the two nations. Also, as a result of this treaty, portions of the western U.S.-Canada border were adjusted so as to be consistent. It gave the U.S. negligibly more land to the north; gold was later discovered on this land. The Creole case was passed over by both nations.

See also

• List of treaties
• Timeline of United States diplomatic history

External links

• The Webster-Ashburton Treaty (The Avalon Project at Yale Law School)
• Webster-Ashburton Treaty (U.S. Department of State)

1842 in law | Canada and the United States | Legal history of Canada | History of slavery in the United States | Territorial disputes of the United States | Treaties | History of United States expansionism | United States treaties