Zaznacz stronę

Bagot met informally with Secretary of State James Monroe and eventually reached an agreement with his successor, Acting Secretary of State Richard Rush. The agreement limited military navigation on the Great Lakes to one to two ships per country on each sea. The U.S. Senate ratified the agreement on April 28, 1818. The British government considered that a diplomatic exchange of letters between Rush and Bagot was sufficient to make the agreement effective. Although the agreements did not fully resolve border disputes and trade agreements, the Rush-Bhatot Agreement and the 1818 Convention marked an important turning point in Anglo-American and American-Canadian relations. The Rush Bagot agreement began as a series of letters between acting US Secretary of State Richard Rush and british Minister in Washington, Sir Charles Bagot. Once the terms of the agreement were concluded, both sides began to follow them. The treaty was officially ratified by the U.S. Senate on April 16, 1818. An Ontario Heritage Trust plaque in Kingston, Ontario honours the Rush Bagot Accord (44°13′48″N 76°27′59″W / 44.229894°N 76.466292°W / 44.229894; -76.466292). A commemorative plaque is also at the former location of the British legation in Washington, D.C. (38°54′13.7″N 77°3′8.4″W / 38.903806°N 77.052333°W / 38.903806; -77.052333), where the agreement was negotiated.

A monument also stands on the grounds of Old Fort Niagara (43°15′48″N 79°03′49″W / 43.263347°N 79.063719°W / 43.263347; -79.063719), with reliefs of Rush and Bagot and the words of the treaty. [10] What is the Rush-Bhatot agreement? The Rush Bagot treatise was extremely unusual as it was based on an exchange of notes (letters) between Richard Rush and Sir Charles Bagot. The terms were proposed to Richard Rush by President Monroe in a letter dated August 2, 1816. The method of reaching an agreement between the American and British governments was the diplomatic means known as the „exchange of notes”. A number of notes were passed between Rush and Bagot and they reached an agreement. In 1818, the U.S. Senate gave its approval to the notes, giving them the authority of a treaty. The simple exchange of notes between the two diplomats thus became the Treaty of Rush-Bagot. ● This meant improved diplomatic relations between the United States and Britain● The agreement ended the costly great lakes arms race that had begun with the War of 1812● The Rush Bagot Treaty was therefore the first treaty to reduce armaments Although the treaty caused difficulties during World War I, its conditions have not been modified. Similar problems arose before World War II, but Foreign Minister Cordell Hull wanted to preserve the agreement because of its historical importance. In 1939 and 1940, Canada and the United States agreed to interpret the treaty in such a way that weapons could be installed in the Great Lakes, but could not be operational until ships left the lakes.

In 1942, the United States, which had since entered the war and allied with Canada, successfully proposed that the weapons could be fully installed and tested in the lakes by the end of the war. After discussions in the Permanent Joint Defence Council in 1946, Canada also proposed to interpret the agreement to allow the use of ships for training purposes if each country informed the other. [9] The importance of the Rush-Bagot agreement: what was the significance of the Rush-Bhatot treaty? The Rush-Bagot Agreement was important because: The Rush-Bagot Pact was an agreement between the United States and Great Britain to eliminate their fleets from the Great Lakes, with the exception of small patrol ships. The Convention of 1818 established the boundary between the Missouri Territory in the United States and British North America (later Canada) at the forty-ninth parallel. Both agreements reflected the easing of diplomatic tensions that had led to the War of 1812 and marked the beginning of Anglo-American cooperation. In addition to the issue of military navigation in the Great Lakes, the British government was also open to negotiations on a number of other points of contention that had not been resolved by the Treaty of Ghent. Several commissions met to settle border disputes along the border between the United States and British North America. One of these orders assigns several islands to New Brunswick off the coast of Maine. However, negotiators blocked other parts of the northern borders of Maine and New Hampshire.

This issue was only resolved with the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842, which also established the boundary between Canada and northeastern Minnesota. Since the maritime disarmament of the lakes was virtually completed after 1817, the Rush-Bhatot Agreement is considered to end the US-British naval race and is often cited as the diplomatic origin of the friendly international border. In fact, only naval power over the lakes was affected, as the United States and Britain continued to build land fortifications along the border for the next half century. ● On Lake Ontario, a ship that does not exceed 100 tonnes and is armed with an 18-pound gun.● On the upper lakes, two ships that do not exceed the foregoing● On Lake Champlain, a ship that does not exceed the foregoing● All other armed vessels on these lakes must be dismantled● No other warship may be armed or constructed there in accordance with the terms of the Rush-Bhatot Agreement, fisheries disputes between the United States and Canada have been settled temporarily […].