Peace, Panel 26, 1956, Inscription: PEACE (GHENT) 1814–Dec. 24, Jacob Lawrence, from Struggle: From the History of the American People, 1954–56, Collection of Bill and Holly Marklyn, © 2019 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
While General Andrew Jackson’s victory at the Battle of New Orleans was the culmination of years of combat, Lawrence symbolized the American cessation as a field of flowers, feebly yet persistently sprouting from the cracked earth. The nation was starting over again. The three flora species depicted are native to the American South.
The United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent in the Belgian city on December 24, 1814, ending the War of 1812. The Treaty’s provisions dictated that prisoners of war would be exchangedhowever, enslaved people in custody would either remain enslaved or be purchased by the British.
Excerpt from the Treaty of Ghent, 1814, International Treaties and Related Records, 1778-1974, General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11, National Archives
ARTICLE THE FIRST.
There shall be a firm and universal Peace between His Britannic Majesty and the United States, and between their respective Countries, Territories, Cities, Towns, and People of every degree without exception of places or persons. All hostilities both by sea and land shall cease as soon as this Treaty shall have been ratified by both parties as hereinafter mentioned.