Hartford Convention
an official gathering of New England Federalists, held at Hartford, Connecticut, December 15, 1814-January 5, 1815. Twenty-six delegates were present: twelve from Massachusetts, seven from Connecticut, four from Rhode Island, two from New Hampshire, and one from Vermont. A secret session was held for three weeks. The convention was called because it was believed that New England was not receiving fair treatment at the hands of the general government. The New England Federalists opposed the War of 1812. Massachusetts and Connecticut refused to place their militia under the orders of President Madison. An embargo was placed on shipping, that is to say, all ships were forbidden to leave port. The Federalists maintained that the war was ruining the commerce of New England, and that it was carried on entirely in the interest of the West and South. Resolutions were adopted reciting grievances and calling for a number of reforms. The supporters of the president and of the war charged the convention with treasonable intentions. A suspicion was even afloat that the leaders were in traitorous correspondence with the English with a view to the creation of a New England duchy with an English nobleman for its duke. Ere the resolutions of the convention could be discussed by Congress, the battle of New Orleans had been fought and won by General Jackson and peace had been declared. There was no further occasion of dispute.
The records of the convention, since made public, show that the proceedings were exceedingly objectionable. They looked toward treason, should treason become safe.
In view of the subsequent attitude of New England toward the seceding South, the facts of the Hartford Convention should be known better than they are. The meeting was representative and official. The call was issued by the legislature of Massachusetts to concert action, "not repugnant to their obligations to the Union," and "lay the foundation for a radical reform in the national compact." The candid historian, however, cannot doubt that the convention was called for sectional purposes, and that, had the war gone on disastrously and had the demands of the convention been spurned by the Congress, secession would have been the next step in the Federalist program. Whether the party would have lost in the popular elections is another question.
The convention was not a mere gathering of disappointed politicians. The delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island were chosen by the legislatures of these states. The representatives from New Haven and Vermont were sent by Federalist counties. The sessions were deliberate and determined. After a recital of grievances, the report proposed:
1. That the defense of each state be left to the state itself.
2. That Federal taxes should be returned to the states in which they are collected.
3. The abolition of the three-fifths slave representation.
4. The requirement of a two-thirds vote for the admission of a new state.
5. The limitation of embargoes to sixty days.
6. The requirement of a two-thirds vote to sanction an embargo, or to declare war, save in case of invasion.
7. To exclude naturalized foreigners from civil office and a seat in Congress.
8. To make a president ineligible for re-election.
The secret deliberations of the convention cannot be known, but it is significant that the convention closed with a recommendation that, in case the grievances were not redressed and the proposed amendments accepted, another convention be held in Boston in June following. On receiving the recommendations of the convention, the legislatures of Massachusetts and Connecticut sent commissioners to Washington to present the demands agreed upon, but the successful close of the war removed the causes of grievance and discredited the Federalist leaders, driving many of them from public life. In 1819 the formal record of the proceedings of the convention was deposited by the chairman, George Cabot, with the Massachusetts secretary of state.
Harun-al-Rashid, ha-roon-al-rash'id (789-809), by translation, Aaron the Just, caliph of Bagdad. He was born near Teheran. He was the most renowned of the Arabian caliphs and was, of course, a believer in the doctrines of Mohammed. His empire extended from the Indus to the Nile. He set his government wisely in order from one frontier to the other; he encouraged trade by making the caravan routes secure from robbers; he filled his chests with treasure; built palaces and mosques, and erected inns for the entertainment of travelers. Bagdad, the capital, became the most celebrated seat of learning in the world. Harun assembled learned men, poets, lawyers, rhetoricians, scribes, wits, and musicians from all parts of his extensive domain. Scholars resorted to Bagdad from western Europe, northern Africa, and from Asia. He himself took a personal interest in the various arts and sciences. He is said to have been a poet of no mean order. According to all accounts, he is one of the great men of the world, meriting consideration not only as a student and a patron of learning, but as an administrator and man of action. It is said, on uncertain authority, however, that he and Charlemagne were men of kindred minds, and that they corresponded with each other. He is known best to young readers through the Arabian Nights, a collection of tales in which he appears frequently as the central figure. See Arabian Nights; Bagdad