HARTFORD CONVENTION

(Dec. 15, 1814Jan. 5, 1815), in U.S. history, a secret meeting of Federalist delegates from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, at Hartford, Conn., inspired by Federalist opposition to President James Madison's mercantile policies and the War of 1812. The convention adopted a strong states' rights position and expressed its grievances in a series of resolutions against military conscription and commercial regulations. News of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent ending the War of 1812, along with the secrecy of the Hartford proceedings, discredited the convention and its work. Its unpopularity was a factor in the demise of the Federalist Party.