Rush-Bagot Treaty

The Rush-Bagot Treaty was an 1817 agreement between the United States and Great Britain, negotiated by American diplomat Richard Rush and British minister Charles Bagot, intended to reduce military tension on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain following the War of 1812. It limited each country to one armed vessel of no more than one hundred tons and one eighteen pound cannon on Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain, and to two vessels of similar size and armament on the remaining Great Lakes. Ratified by the United States Senate on April 16, 1818, the treaty became the basis for the demilitarization of the border between the United States and Canada, later described as the longest demilitarized border in the world. It is regarded as one of history's longest lasting arms control agreements, remaining technically in force into the present day.