Hartford convention
The Hartford Convention was an event in early United States History in which the idea of secession by member states of the United States was first actively discussed and which led indirectly to the demise of the nation's first political party, the Federalist Party.
The policies of Democratic-Republican President Thomas Jefferson were largely unpopular in the northeastern United States, especially those that restricted foreign trade such as the Embargo Act and the Non-Intercourse Act. But Jefferson's successor James Madison was even less popular in the Northeast, especially after his prosecution of the War of 1812. This war disrupted all trade with Britain, which was the lifeblood of many Northeastern businesses. When Madison was re-elected in November, 1812, and the war continued unabated, Northeastern furor mounted. The Federalist Party, as the opposition to Madison's Democratic-Republicans, was the natural place for Madison's opponents to coalesce.
The Hartford Convention was the outcome of this upset. It was called for by the Massachusetts state legislature in a resolution voted on October 10, 1814. Delegates from the then-five New England states (Maine at this point still being part of Massachusetts) met in Hartford, Connecticut beginning on December 15, 1814, obstensibly to propose a series of constitutional amendments to rectify the situation and to propose measures for the defense of New England. The delegations from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island were officially sent by their legislatures. Delegates from New Hampshire and Vermont were from dissident counties, as the legislatures of those two states rejected the call. Meetings continued through January 5, 1815.
In all, twenty-six delegates attended. Largely due to the sensitive, some would say treasonous, nature of what was being discussed, the sessions were held in secret and apparently no minutes or journal were kept. A final report was issued, which contained language to the effect of states having a "duty" to impose their own authority against unconstitutional infringements on their sovereignty -- a doctrine that would later reappear in a different context under the name of Nullification.
The final report included a series of proposed amendments to the United States Constitution. These were primarily aimed at the ruling Republicans and included the banning of any trade embargo lasting over sixty days, and the requirement of a two-thirds Congressional majority for any declaration of war, admission of a new state, or interdiction of foreign commerce. Other proposed amendments would have shifted the bulk of federal tax payments to the slaveholding South, limited future Presidents to one term, and required each future President to be from a different state than his predecessor. These last provisions were aimed directly at the Virginia Dynasty.
The delegates had to be aware that there was no possibility of the Republican-dominated Congress actually recommending any of these proposed amendments to the states for ratification. They could have served only two purposes -- to embarass the Republicans in Congress and the Administration, and to be the basis for negotiations between New England and the rest of the country.
Many of the delegates were apparently in favor of exploring the possibility of New England seceding from the United States and either reuniting with Britain or, more realistically, forming a new independent federative republic. While no such resolution was ever adopted at the convention, the event became associated in the popular mind with this idea. Massachusetts actually sent three commissioners to Washington for the purpose of negotiating with the federal government. When they arrived in February, 1815, news of the victory of Andrew Jackson's forces success against the British at the Battle of New Orleans and the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war, had preceeded them and their presence in the captial seemed to be both ludircrous and somewhat subversive. They quickly returned to Massachusetts. Ever after, both the Hartford Convention and the party associated with it became synonymous with disunion and succession, especially in the South. The already-weakened Federalist Party was ruined as a national party, surviving only as a northeastern regional party for a few more years before vanishing entirely.
