(Note: The next paragraph was copied from Wikipedia, with small changes) The Treaty of Ghent, signed on December 24, 1814, in Ghent, was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the British Empire for a period of two months. Due to the era's slow speed of communication, it took weeks for news of the peace treaty to reach America, well after the Battle of New Orleans had begun.