WAR OF 1812, Treaty of Ghent. Treaty of Peace Signed and Arrived ... Great and Happy News ... A Treaty of Peace Between this Country and Great-Britain. Portland, Maine: Argus Office, Feb. 14 [1815] -- 2 o'clock in the morning. Letterpress broadside, approximately 15 1/2 x 10 inches. Wide margins with deckle edges.

Rare Maine broadside announcing the signing of the Treaty of Ghent which ended the War of 1812.

This broadside announcement begins with a statement by the publishers of the Argus newspaper office in Portland: At eleven o'clock last evening, an express arrived in this town, in Thirteen Hours from Boston, with the following letter and Handbill to Capt. William Webb, &c. containing the joyful tidings of Peace. By the favor of an esteemed friend, we are enabled thus early to lay them before the Public. This is followed by a letter from Thomas Motley in Boston forwarding the hand bill from the Boston Centinel, quoting New York publisher Jonathan Goodhue's 11 February announcement of the arrival of H.M.S. Favorite in New York with American commissioner Carroll aboard with a signed treaty in hand.

Maine sat on the front lines of the War of 1812, making this news of the Treaty of great significance. By the fall of 1814, the British had invaded and occupied eastern Maine, and formally brought all of the District east of the Penobscot River back into the British Empire. Much to the ire of Maine's citizens, Massachusetts did nothing to defend its eastern District, which in turn led directly to Maine's seeking separation and statehood following the war. Although the Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812 in December 1814, Moose Island remained under British control since the issue of ownership of the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay was in dispute until settled in June 1818.

A rare Maine broadside: OCLC locates only the Indiana University copy; American Imprints locating only the Massachusetts Historical Society copy.

Shaw & Shoemaker, 36115; Williamson 9913.