Anglo-American Treaty

(1818)

   A treaty addressing three issues in Anglo-American relations: Atlantic fisheries, the northern boundary, and the Oregon territory. It was signed October 20, 1818 and proclaimed on January 30, 1819. American fishing rights within Canadian territorial waters, granted in the Treaty of Paris of 1783, had come into question after the War of 1812. In addition, the 1783 treaty contained ambiguities regarding the Canadian-American boundary.

   As a result of the 1818 treaty, Americans gained the right to take and dry fish on the uninhabited coasts of Newfoundland and southern Labrador. The treaty also identified a line from the Lake of the Woods, along the 49th Parallel west to the Rocky Mountains, as the northern border of the United States, adding thousands of square miles to American territory. Finally, the two nations arranged a temporary modus vivendi - a compromise “joint occupation” of the vast Oregon territory.

   A diplomatic triumph for the United States, the agreement represented another step toward better Anglo-American and Canadian-American relations and settled most outstanding Anglo-American controversies except for the West Indies trade issue.

   See also <>.

   FURTHER READING:

    Campbell, Charles S., Jr. From Revolution to Rapprochement: The United States and Great Britain, 1783-1900. New York: John Wiley, 1974;

    Miller, Hunter, ed. Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America. Vol. II. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1931, pp. 658–62.

   KENNETH J. BLUME