Numerous Federalists opposed the war because many of these men earned their living through trade. The conflict hampered the Federalists' ability to exchange with England. Tensions increased so much so that by 1814, some Federalists in New England threatened to secede from the United States to form their own country unless the American government immediately sought peace. With the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in 1814 and the end of the War of 1812, many Americans viewed the Federalists as traitors. The Federalist Party collapsed, leaving the Democratic-Republican Party as the only political party in the United States until the mid-1820s.
