#361 Erkenningsnummer P708816
DECEMBER 17, 2014 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ read more at www.flanderstoday.eu current affairs \ p2
politics \ p4
Crossing borders
Employment ministers are signing deals to make recognition of diplomas and working across the Benelux a lot easier \6
BUSiNESS \ p6
innovation \ p7
Fun with food
A unique programme in Ghent introduces children from poorer neighbourhoods to the joys of healthy eating
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education \ p9
art & living \ p10
Holiday happenings
Searching for a few ideas to fill your agenda this holiday season? Look no further than our guide inside \ 11
Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier shakes hands with John Quincy Adams at the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in this 1914 painting by French artist Amédée Forestier
Finding common ground With the Treaty of Ghent, the city played a vital role in ending the War of 1812 Daan Bauwens More articles by Daan \ flanderstoday.eu
Two hundred years ago, Ghent was the setting for the signing of an agreement that brought to an end the War of 1812 between the US and Britain. A series of musical events will commemorate the anniversary.
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hristmas Eve, Ghent, 1814. An American delegation, led by future president John Quincy Adams, and a British delegation, under the guidance of Admiral James Gambier, walks out of Ghent’s Carthusian monastery with a treaty in their hands that will bring peace to North America. As commemorations ring out in the Flemish city this month, we take a look at some key questions. What was
this war about? What did the treaty guarantee? And why on earth did they pick Ghent? The story starts in 1776, with a phrase every American knows by heart: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” It is the most famous line of the Declaration of Independence, with which 13 North American colonies announced their break from Britain. The Revolutionary War ended in 1783 when Great Britain officially recognised its colonies along the Atlantic coast to be an independent nation – the United States of America. But the struggle for independence wasn’t over. “The British empire only recognised the states on paper,” explains Luc François, professor emeritus of history at Ghent Univer-
sity. “Trade over sea and fishing rights remained in British hands. At the beginning of the 1800s, the British even imposed an economic blockade on North America, killing the young nation’s economy, just to maintain its grip on its former colonies.” What’s more, during the European war against Napoleon, the British needed experienced sailors. Britain decided not to recognise the right of British subjects to become US citizens and started taking British-born naturalised Americans by force into the Navy, infuriating the Americans. In the midst of these tensions, a third party became involved. “The Indians were not too happy with the expansionist nature of their new neighbours,” explains Francontinued on page 5