How we cite our quotes: (Article.Sentence)
Quote #4
One Commissioner shall be appointed by His Britannic Majesty and one by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and the said two Commissioners so appointed shall be sworn impartially to examine and decide upon the said claims according to such evidence as shall be laid before them. (IV.3)
This was the mechanism the Treaty of Ghent invented to resolve all those pesky disagreements about islands in bays, lines between the Great Lakes, and river lands. It was kind of like giving two brothers a piece of tape and telling them to divide up their sides of the room. They both had to agree where to put the line.
Quote #5
The said Commissioners shall have power to ascertain and determine the points above mentioned […] and shall cause the boundary aforesaid from the source of the River St Croix to the River Iroquois or Cataraquy to be surveyed and marked according to the said provisions. (V.3)
Before they could debate land boundaries in the Great Lakes area, the Commissioners had to survey the land. They were allowed to hire surveyors, secretaries, and any other employees needed for the job.
Quote #6
The said two last mentioned Commissioners […] shall be, and they are hereby, authorized upon their oaths impartially to fix and determine […] part of the boundary between the dominions of the two Powers, which extends from the water communication between Lake Huron and Lake Superior to the most North Western point of the Lake of the Woods;-to decide to which of the two Parties the several Islands lying in the Lakes, water communications, and Rivers forming the said boundary do respectively belong.
A major battle in the War of 1812 was fought on Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes. Control of the lakes was considered important not only to the outcome of the war, but also to taking control of the upper-Midwest territories, then the American frontier. Take a look at any map of the U.S. and Canada and you'll notice that the border between the two countries cuts through the middle of the lakes. If you've ever wondered why, here's your answer.