In the end, the crisis involved no actual armed confrontation between military forces and negotiations between British diplomat Baron Ashburton and United States Secretary of State Daniel Webster quickly settled the dispute. Webster secretly funded a propaganda campaign that convinced leaders in Maine of the wisdom of compromise. The Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842 established the final boundary between the countries, giving most of the disputed area to Maine while a militarily vital connection between Lower Canada and the Atlantic colonies was secured by Britain, as well as a project for a commercial right-of-way that would allow British commercial interests to transit through Maine on their way to and from southern New Brunswick or Nova Scotia.