HARTFORD CONVENTION 489 fort on Dutch point, at the confluence of the Park and Connecticut rivers, within the pres- ent limits of Hartford ; but in 1654 they were dispossessed by an act of the general court, and the new colony came entirely into the hands of the English. Among the early set- tlers were a number who had been persons of eminence and affluence in England, and who were held in high honor through all the New England settlements, many of whom were founders of families yet prominent in the city. The first town organization admitted inhabi- tants, and even temporary residents, only by vote of the town meeting. There was a public market semi-weekly, and a public fair twice jvery year. The first town meeting was held 1635, and the first general court of Connec- icut in 1636. The first church came ready lized from Cambridge, with its pastors, tooker and Stone ; and its first house of wor- lip was erected in 1638. The first war was Pequot war in 1637, for which Hartford itributed 43 out of 90 men, including corn- ider and chaplain, besides a large share of )rovisions, equipments, &c. In 1639 a con- titution for the government of the colony was led. (See CONNECTICUT, vol. v., p. 260.) A school was in operation in 1638, and in 1643 a year was voted to the teacher. A house correction was in operation in 1640; the 3t inn was ordered by the general court and )lished in 1644. In 1650 the first code of iws was drawn up, chiefly by Roger Ludlow, rhich reduced the number of capital offences from 160, under English law, to 15. In 1687 the independent spirit of the colony was shown by their quiet but determined resistance to Andros, in his attempt to take away the char- ter of 1662, when, according to current ac- counts, the lights in the council chamber were 11 in an instant extinguished, and the charter iized and carried off in the dark, and hid in famous "charter oak." (See ANDROS, SIR CDMUND.) In 1764 the first printing office was up by Thomas Green. In 1775 a patriotic id enterprising committee met and made ar- rangements for raising men and money, which resulted in the taking of Ticonderoga. In 1784 the city was incorporated ; in 1792 the first bank and first charitable society were establish- ed. From the union of the colonies of Connec- ticut and New Haven in 1665 till 1701 the le- gislature met in Hartford ; between the latter date and 1818 one stated session was held in Hartford and one in New Haven each year ; and from 1819 to 1874 there was an annual session at those places alternately. In 1875, by virtue of a constitutional amendment rati- fied by a popular vote in 1873, Hartford is again to become the sole capital. HARTFORD CONVENTION, an assemblage of delegates from the New England states which met at Hartford, Dec. 15, 1814. The war be- reen the United States and Great Britain, hich began in 1812, was from the first dis- ateful to the majority of the people of New England, who regarded it as unnecessary and impolitic, and who had suffered from it im- mense losses by the destruction of their com- merce and their fisheries. They regarded the war as a mere party measure of the demo- crats, and as federalists they had earnestly and persistently opposed it. In February, 1814, a committee of the Massachusetts legislature made a report on public affairs, in which they declared that, in their opinion, the constitution of the United States had been violated by the federal government, and that still worse mea- sures were likely to follow; and they sug- gested the appointment of delegates to meet such as might be appointed by the legislatures of other states " for the purpose of devising proper measures to procure the united efforts of the commercial states to obtain such amend- ments or explanations of the constitution as will secure them from future evils." The de- fence of the New England coast was neglected by the federal government, and the British were beginning to attack it with vigor. Stonington in Connecticut was bombarded, Castine and all Maine east of the Penobscot taken possession of, while a rumor spread that Massachusetts was to be invaded by a formi- dable force. Another committee of the Massa- chusetts legislature reported in October, 1814, that, in the position in which that state stood, no choice was left her between submission to the enemy, which was not to be thought of, and the appropriation to her own defence of those revenues derived from her people which the. general government had hitherto thought proper to expend elsewhere. The committee also recommended a convention of the New England states ; and their report being adopt- ed by the legislature by a vote of three to one, a delegation of 12 men of the highest reputa- tion, with George Cabot, William Prescott, and Harrison Gray Otis at their head, was ap- pointed. A circular letter to the other New England states called upon them to meet in convention " to devise means of security and defence which may be consistent with the pres- ervation of their resources from total ruin, and adapted to their local situation and mu- tual relations and habits, and not repugnant to their obligations as members of the Union." Connecticut and Rhode Island responded to this invitation, the former by appointing seven, and the latter four* delegates. Two delegates appeared from New Hampshire, and one from Vermont, not sent by these states, but by sep- arate counties. When the convention assem- bled they chose George Cabot president, and Theodore Dwight secretary. For 20 days the convention sat with closed doors, and on their adjournment embodied the result of their delib- , erations in a report addressed to the legislatures which they represented. This manifesto was moderate in tone and patriotic in sentiment, expressing strong affection for the Union and the greatest aversion to violent or unconstitu- tional opposition to legal authority. It point-
