Hartford Convention

The Hartford Convention was a series of meetings from December 15, 1814, to January 5, 1815, in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, in which New England leaders of the Federalist Party met to discuss their grievances concerning the ongoing War of 1812 and the political problems arising from the federal government's increasing power.

This convention discussed removing the three-fifths compromise and requiring a two-thirds majority in Congress for the admission of new states, declarations of war, and creating laws restricting trade. The Federalists also discussed their grievances with the Louisiana Purchase and the Embargo of 1807. However, weeks after the convention's end, news of Major General Andrew Jackson's overwhelming victory in New Orleans swept over the Northeast, discrediting and disgracing the Federalists, resulting in their elimination as a major national political force.

The convention was controversial at the time, and many historians consider it a contributing factor to the downfall of the Federalist Party. There are many reasons for this, not least of which was the suggestion that the states of New England, the Federalists' main base, secede from the United States union and create a new country. Historians generally doubt that the convention was seriously considering this.