On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on the British over free trade, sailors’ rights, and Indigenous People’s rights on the frontier. In March 1813, Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry arrived in Presque Isle, Pennsylvania, to oversee construction of a fleet to challenge British control of the Great Lakes. In August, he sailed to Sandusky, Ohio, and made plans with General William Henry Harrison to engage the British fleet at Put-in-Bay. On the morning of September 10, 1813, despite many men being sick with dysentery, Perry sailed out against Commander Barclay’s British fleet with his “Dont Give Up the Ship” ensign flying. Later that day, after the brig Lawrence was badly damaged and many of its crew were dead or injured, Perry transferred by longboat to the brig Niagara and defeated the British fleet. By late November, with Tecumseh defeated and Lake Erie secured, Perry was sent back East a hero. On Christmas Eve 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed, though not yet ratified by Congress. In January 1815, General Andrew Jackson defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans, and in February the U.S. Congress ratified what is identified here as the longest standing treaty in U.S. history.