Rush-Bagot Convention

Rush-Bagot Convention , 1817, agreement between the United States and Great Britain concerning the Canadian border. It consisted of the exchange of notes signed by Richard Rush , Acting Secretary of State of the United States, and Charles Bagot, British minister in Washington. In 1818 the U.S. Senate gave its consent to the notes, thus giving them the authority of a treaty. The convention provided for practical disarmament on the U.S.-Canadian frontier; each nation should have no more than four warships, none to exceed 100 tons, on the Great Lakes. The agreement, a result of negotiations begun after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, was important because it set a precedent for the pacific settlement of Anglo-American difficulties and because it inaugurated a policy of peace between the United States and Canada. Only one move was made to abrogate it—during the Civil War strained relations with Canada caused the Secretary of State, William H. Seward, to announce (1864) that the United States intended to abrogate, but before the six months of grace had elapsed the announcement was canceled (1865).

Rush-Bagot Convention (1817) British-US agreement providing for disarmament of the US-Canadian border. Besides ensuring an unfortified frontier, it agreed limits for ships of the two countries in the Great Lakes.

Rush-Bagot Agreement an accord between the U.S. and Britain after the War of 1812 to end naval rivalry on the Great Lakes. Negotiations for the accord began in April 1817 in letters between British minister Charles Bagot and Acting U.S. Secretary of State Richard Rush. It was ratified by the Senate in 1818.Each side pledged to maintain only one ship on Lakes Champlain and Ontario, and only two on the remaining Great Lakes. It also established peaceful border relations between the United States and Canada. It was the first qualitative disarmament treaty in history.