Ashburton treaty

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Ashburton treaty, 1842. After the War of 1812, relations between Britain and the USA remained difficult, with a number of problems including border disputes in Maine. In 1841 when Peel took office, the situation was bad enough to call for naval deployments in case of war. Peel dispatched Lord Ashburton, who had an American wife, as a special envoy. By the treaty, signed in April 1842, Britain dropped the right of maritime search, the Maine border was adjusted, and the rest of the boundary with Canada agreed as the 49th parallel. The Oregon question remained at issue but one of the last acts of Peel's government in 1846 was to reach a settlement on that as well.

J. A. Cannon

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