Editing Hartford Convention (section)

==Background==
===American relations with Great Britain===
Under the administrations of [[George Washington]] and [[John Adams]], vigorous trade with France was maintained while both administrations engaged in [[Quasi-War|an undeclared war with France]]. With the resumption of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] at the same time that [[Thomas Jefferson]] assumed office, relations with both France and Great Britain deteriorated. Jefferson's goal was an expansion of free trade through Great Britain's lifting of trade restrictions placed against the United States. However, to pressure Britain into compliance, he adopted anti-foreign trade policies such as the [[Embargo Act of 1807]] and the [[Non-Intercourse Act (1809)|Non-Intercourse Act of 1809]]. These policies were very unpopular among Northeastern merchants and shippers. Jefferson's successor, President [[James Madison]], and what was now called the [[Democratic-Republican Party]], continued his policies.<ref name=Banner>{{cite journal
|last=Banner, Jr.
|first=James M.
|title=A Shadow of Secession? The Hartford Convention, 1814
|journal=[[History Today]]
|date=September 1988
|volume=38
|pages=24–30
|issn=0018-2753}}</ref>{{rp|24–25}}

The opposing Federalist Party regained strength, especially in New England and [[New York (state)|New York]]; it collaborated with Lieutenant Governor [[DeWitt Clinton]] of New York City and supported him for president in 1812.

===Opposition to the War of 1812===
When Madison was re-elected in 1812, the discontent in New England intensified. In late 1813, Madison signed a more restrictive embargo act than any of those approved by Jefferson, this time prohibiting all trade between American ports (the coastal trade) and fishing outside harbors.<ref name=Morison1968>{{cite journal
|last=Morison
|first=Samuel Eliot
|title=Our Most Unpopular War
|journal=Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society
|date=1968
|volume=80
|pages=38–54
|quote=[The] myth of a New England secessionist plot,… although shown to be false by every serious historian of the United States for the past 150&nbsp;years, is so pleasing to people who dislike New England that many to this day continue to believe it.
|issn=0076-4981}}</ref>{{rp|43}} By the summer of 1814, the war had turned against the Americans. After ending their war with Napoleonic France, Great Britain was able to marshal more resources to North America and had effectively blockaded the entire eastern coastline. Territory in the [[District of Maine|Maine district]] of [[Massachusetts]] was occupied in July, the [[White House]] and [[United States Capitol|Capitol]] were [[Burning of Washington|burned]] in August, and by September, the British were advancing further in Maine and the [[Lake Champlain]] area of New York. A naval assault on [[Boston]] was expected in the near future. Free trade with the rest of the world had virtually ceased, thousands were thrown out of work, and by August, banks were suspending [[coin|specie]] payment. The federal government was approaching bankruptcy.<ref name=Banner/>{{rp|24}}<ref name=Morison1968/>{{rp|45}}

New England governors followed a policy of giving minimal support to the Federal government in waging the war. With the exception of Governor [[John Taylor Gilman]] of [[New Hampshire]], most requisitions for state militia were denied. New Englanders were reluctant to have their militia, needed to defend their coasts from British attacks, assigned elsewhere or placed under the command of the regular army. General [[Winfield Scott]], after the war, blamed Madison's policy of ignoring Federalists, who in New England constituted the best-educated class, when granting regular army commissions in New England.<ref name=Morison1968/>{{rp|40—41}}

The anti-war sentiment in Massachusetts was so strong that even [[Samuel Dexter]], the Democratic-Republican candidate for governor, opposed the national party's commerce policies. Federalists still dominated the 1814 elections, returning [[Caleb Strong]] as governor and electing 360&nbsp;Federalists against only 156&nbsp;Democratic-Republicans to the lower house of the [[Massachusetts General Court|Massachusetts Legislature]]. In September, Governor Strong refused a request to provide and support 5,000&nbsp;troops to retake territory in Maine.<ref name=Morison1968/>{{rp|44–45}}

Because Massachusetts and [[Connecticut]] had refused to subject their militia to the orders of the [[United States Department of War|War Department]], Madison declined to pay their expenses. Consequently, critics said that Madison had abandoned New England to the common enemy. The Massachusetts Legislature appropriated $1 million to support a state army of 10,000&nbsp;men. [[Harrison Gray Otis (lawyer)|Harrison Gray Otis]], who inspired these measures, suggested that the eastern states meet at a convention in [[Hartford, Connecticut]]. As early as 1804, [[Timothy Pickering]] and other Federalists discussed [[Timothy Pickering#Middle years|secession]] from the Union if the national government became too oppressive.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schouler |first=James |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_the_United_States_of_America/K9scAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |title=History of the United States of America Under the Constitution |date=1882 |publisher=Dodd, Mead & Company |pages=426 |language=en}}</ref>

In September&nbsp;1814, Madison asked Congress for a conscription bill. Even though this had not been one of the original grievances that led to the call for the convention, Federalists presented this as further proof that the Democratic-Republicans intended to bring military despotism into the nation. [[Thomas P. Grosvenor|Thomas Grosvenor]] of [[New York (state)|New York]] saw this as the result of the administration leading the country "defenseless and naked, into that lake of blood she is yet swimming."<ref name=Buel>{{cite book
|year=2005
|last=Buel
|first=Richard Jr.
|location=New York
|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]
|title=America on the Brink: How the Political Struggle over the War of 1812 Almost Destroyed the Young Republic
|isbn=1-4039-6238-3}}</ref>{{rp|224–225}}

===Secession===
Secession was again mentioned in 1814–1815; all but one leading Federalist newspaper in New England supported a plan to expel the western states from the Union. Otis, the key leader of the Convention, blocked radical proposals such as a seizure of the Federal customs house, impounding federal funds, or declaring neutrality. Otis thought the Madison administration was near collapse and that unless conservatives like himself and the other delegates took charge, the radical secessionists might take power. Indeed, Otis was unaware that Massachusetts Governor Strong had already sent a secret mission to discuss terms with the British for a separate peace.<ref name=Morison1969>{{cite book
|last=Morison
|first=Samuel Eliot
|title=Harrison Gray Otis, 1765-1848: The Urbane Federalist
|url=https://archive.org/details/harrisongrayoti000mori
|url-access=registration
|publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]]
|year=1969
|oclc=505124356
|quote=Originally published in 1913 as ''The life and letters of Harrison Grey Otis, Federalist''.}}</ref>{{rp|362—370}}<ref name=Morison1968/>{{rp|48}}

There are several reasons why historians doubt that the New England Federalists were seriously considering secession. All the states, especially Connecticut with its [[Connecticut Western Reserve|claims to western lands]], stood to lose more than they would gain.  Efforts were made in the delegation selection process to exclude firebrands like [[John Lowell, Jr. (lawyer)|John Lowell,&nbsp;Jr.]], [[Timothy Pickering]], and [[Josiah Quincy III|Josiah Quincy]] who might have pushed for secession, and the final report of the convention did not propose secession.<ref name=Buel/>{{rp|219–220}}<ref name=Morison1968/>{{rp|53}} Nevertheless, Southern secessionists cited the convention as precedent in the crisis that preceded the [[American Civil War]], which then became a standard part of the [[Lost Cause of the Confederacy]] after the war.

Despite this, the Madison administration had reasons to be concerned about the consequences of the Hartford Convention. Federalists were already blocking administration efforts to finance the war and bring it to a successful conclusion with an invasion of Canada. There were fears that New England would negotiate a separate peace with Great Britain, an action in many ways just as harmful to the nation as actual secession. In preparing for a worst-case scenario, Madison moved troops from the New York–Canada border to [[Albany, New York|Albany]] where they could quickly be sent to Massachusetts or Connecticut to preserve federal authority. Several New England regiments that had participated in the [[Niagara campaign]] were returned home where it was hoped that they could serve as a focal point for New Englanders opposed to disunion.<ref name=Buel/>{{rp|219–221}}