HARTFORD CONVENTION
\hˈɑːtfəd kənvˈɛnʃən], \hˈɑːtfəd kənvˈɛnʃən], \h_ˈɑː_t_f_ə_d k_ə_n_v_ˈɛ_n_ʃ_ə_n]\
Sort: Oldest first
-
Met at Hartford, Conn., December 15, 1814, and adjourned January 5, 1815. It consisted of delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island and was the outgrowth of the opposition of the New England Federalists to the war with Great Britain which was then in progress and which was especially injurious to the commercial interests of New England. The New England States strongly denounced the policy of the Democratic administration in the conduct of the war, especially in respect to forcible drafts. The convention was held in secret and a report was falsely circulated that it looked toward a dissolution of the Union. The general aim of the convention seems to have been to propose certain reforms in the direction of States rights. Its proceedings brought upon the New England Federalists great odium.
By John Franklin Jameson