The
Aroostook War (sometimes called the
Pork and Beans War) was a confrontation in 1838–1839 between
the United States and
the United Kingdom over the international boundary between the British colony of
New Brunswick and the US state of
Maine. Top-level diplomats from the US and Britain met in Washington and forged a peaceful compromise, the
Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842, which fixed the permanent border. The term "war" was rhetorical; local militia units were called out but never engaged in combat. The event is best described as an
international incident.