<P> Efforts to end the war began in 1812 when the chief U.S. diplomat in London proposed an armistice in return for a renunciation of impressments; the British refused . Later, in 1812, when the British captured Detroit and news of the repeal of the Orders reached Washington, Sir George Prevost arranged an armistice with his counterpart Henry Dearborn . However, President James Madison decided to continue the war . In 1813, Russia offered to mediate a peace, but London rejected the offer, because it might compromise British interests in Europe . Finally, Great Britain and the United States agreed to commence peace negotiations in January 1814: the talks were delayed . </P> <P> At last in August 1814, peace discussions began in the neutral city of Ghent . Both sides began negotiations with unrealistic demands . The U.S. wanted an end to all British maritime practices it deemed objectionable and also demanded cessions of Canadian territory and guaranteed fishing rights off Newfoundland . The British announced as an essential element of the peace treaty their long - standing goal of creating an Indian barrier state, a large "neutral" Indian state that would cover most of the Old Northwest . It would be independent of the United States and under the tutelage of the British, who would use it to block American expansion and to build up their control of the fur trade . London dropped the demand when the Americans adamantly refused and indicated it would end the negotiations . The British had been weakened by the collapse of Tecumseh's Confederacy after the Battle of the Thames in 1813 and no longer controlled adequate supply lines to support an Indian barrier state . Britain also wanted to keep the far - northeastern parts of Maine that had been captured to provide a land corridor to Quebec from the maritime colonies . </P> <P> After months of negotiations, against the background of changing military victories, defeats and losses, the parties finally realized that their nations wanted peace and there was no real reason to continue the war . Now each side was tired of the war . Export trade was all but paralyzed and after Napoleon fell in 1814 France was no longer an enemy of Britain, so the Royal Navy no longer needed to stop American shipments to France, and it no longer needed more seamen . The British were preoccupied in rebuilding Europe after the apparent final defeat of Napoleon . The negotiators agreed to return to the status quo ante bellum with no changes in boundaries . Both sides signed the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814 . The next and final step would be formal ratification by each government . </P> <P> The British--but not the Americans--knew, when they signed, that a battle was imminent at New Orleans (it was fought on January 8, 1815). This treaty finally went into effect when it was formally ratified by both sides in February 1815 . </P>

When the war of 1812 ended what was the outcome