Called “Crazy Jack” by his Democratic-Republican opponents, John Lowell had a plan. In the months leading to the Hartford Convention, December 15, 1814, many thought the British would conquer New Orleans and occupy it indefinitely. (Andrew Jackson did not win the Battle of New Orleans until January 8, 1815.)
Lowell thought the Harford Convention needed to re-write the Constitution. The purpose of the new constitution would be to protect New England’s commercial and maritime interests. He proposed presenting the new constitution to the original thirteen states. Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana Territory breached the original compact between the states. The rewritten constitution was to be used as an ultimatum. The separation of the West needed to occur so that the original balance of power between the thirteen states could be restored.[1]
New England’s Federalist press endorsed the idea wholeheartedly. One newspaper, the Centinel suggested that New England should make peace separately with Britain, and then invite other states to adhere. A new convention from states in the North would be called, inviting only Southern states on the Atlantic seaboard to join.[2]
Next: Governor Strong’s Secret Mission
[1]Samuel Eliot Morison,”Our Most Unpopular War,” Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Third Series, V. 80, (1968) 50.
[2] Morison, “Our Most Unpopular War,” 51.
