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Constitutional Convention Constitutional Convention CORNELL MODEL UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE 2021 Copyright © 2021 by the Cornell Model United Nations Conference All rights reserved. This document or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the Cornell Model United Nations Conference (CMUNC) except when used for educational purposes. Commercial reproduction or reference to this document requires the express written consent of the current Secretary-General of CMUNC. Further terms of use for commercial purposes will be determined on a case-by-case basis. For more information on CMUNC, use the Contact Us page located at: cmunc.net 2 CMUNC 2021 Secretariat Secretary-General Malvika Narayan Director-General Bryan Weintraub Chief of Staff James “Hamz” Piccirilli Director of Events Alexandra Tsalikis Director of Outreach Akosa Nwadiogbu Director of Communications Annie Rogers Director of Finance Daniel Bernstein Director of Operations Andrew Landesman Under-Secretary Generals Robyn Bardmesser Avery Bower John Clancy Mariana Goldlust 3 From Your Chair Dear Delegates, My name is Isaac Chasen, and I’m going to be your committee chair for the Constitutional Convention Specialized Committee! A little about me: I’m a sophomore from New York City, studying Applied Economics and Management in the Dyson School here at Cornell. I’m a bit of a political junkie, and a massive New York sports fan. I also enjoy reading, running, and watching a lot of TV in my free time. I’m super excited about chairing this committee for CMUNC 2021. There are so many different directions the committee can take, from discussing the size and scope of the federal government to individual liberties, to the structure of a national bank. I’m hoping for a robust, wide-ranging debate that will cover many of the topics you’ll read about in this background guide. I also want to note the different format of this upcoming conference. While we cannot convene together in Ithaca, I will do my best to make this committee run as though we were in person. I hope you all will still participate in all aspects of the conference, and that we can still have great debates over Zoom. I will certainly do my best to make the weekend as fun as it possibly can be. I can’t wait to meet you all in April. I think this committee has the potential for many exciting committee sessions. I’m looking forward to a great weekend of MUN, and I hope you are as well. If you have any questions about the committee prior to the conference, please do not hesitate to reach out to me by email at idc28@cornell.edu. Isaac Chasen Constitutional Convention Chair CMUNC 2021 4 History The American Revolutionary War and The Articles of The Confederation In 1775, tensions between Great Britain and her American colonies over taxation boiled over into war. The resulting conflict lasted 8 years, pitting Britain against the newly formed American Republic (with extensive help from the French) (History). In the midst of the war, the Second Continental Congress convened to devise a framework for formal governance of the new nation (the First Continental Congress met prior to the commencement of hostilities, and resolved to boycott British commodities). The Second Continental Congress served to both provide a unified command for the Patriot war effort and give the fledgling American government legitimacy. To this end, the Articles of Confederation, a document signed by delegates from all 13 colonies, was adopted (History). The Articles established the United States as a confederacy of sovereign states, with a weak federal government; it was more a government of previously existing states instead of a government of individuals (Teaching American History). Eventually, due to a combination of imperial overextension and a British inability to project adequate military power, the war ended in the colonies’ favor. However, the years following the British capitulation were chaotic. The lack of a strong federal government resulted in a total absence of a collective economic policy (History). States quarreled with one another over tariffs, and no laws prevented states from circulating their own currencies (Independence Hall). An economic downturn immediately following the war exacerbated these structural problems. Shay’s Rebellion The state of Massachusetts, like many others, responded to the fiscal adversity it faced with very strict economic policies. Daniel Shay, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, perceived the government’s policies as economic terrorism. Shay rounded up a group of followers (Shaysites) to overthrow the state government (Independence Hall). Though the rebellion was suppressed, the need for a strong federal government was made abundantly clear. 5 Current Situation The Second Continental Congress created the Articles of Confederation in 1776. With this document came a new continental government that came into action in the early 1780s (Teaching American History). The people were unhappy with the Articles and with a system governed by the wealthy and community leaders. Shay’s Rebellion, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The people were gaining power. To avoid an overthrow of the system, leading intellectual of the time such as Alexander Hamilton had the idea to hold the Constitutional Convention. Even though separate states had their own constitutions, Hamilton (and many others) believed it was necessary to have a stronger central government (Teaching American History). Some delegates will want to revise the Articles of Confederation and maintain strong state powers, others will want an entirely new document that could potentially lead the country to be a world leader, others may come up with a creative compromise. You have been invited to this Convention to reconsider the status of the Articles, it is entirely up to you, your negotiation skills and your ability to compromise to determine what will happen with the system of governance in America. 6 Topics The Size and Structure of the Government Introduction Experience with the British government’s oppressive rule and the failure of the Articles of Confederation brought delegates to Philadelphia with very clear ideas on how they could best establish the size and structure of the government to create a successful long-term system. Each delegate had different ideas with regards to each issue. The primary issues regarding power are surrounding who should have power, how much they should have, and how it should be distributed and checked. Another large issue was how to format a legislature in order to best represent the people. The issue of equal representation versus representation by population was one that was highly contested. Finally, the delegates had to determine how religion would factor into the new document Some delegates hoped to come out of the convention with a document that answered all of these questions in the long-term while other delegates wanted to create a document that would be edited generationally. This meant establishing a flexible document that could adapt to the times and not defining any laws too closely. By settling these debates, the delegates aimed to create a nation that could best serve the people without being too oppressive or, on the other hand, insufficient. The Debate Over Power A primary issue during the convention was how much power the government should have and therefore how large it should be. Some delegates pushed for a large body that would have more power over the states as a whole. This group, known as the Federalists, felt that the Articles of Confederation had left the states too divided. Other delegates, as a group called the Anti-Federalists, advocated for a weaker central authority. They cited the tyrannical precedent of oppression set by Britain as reasoning for why a weaker central authority would best serve the nation. Some delegates wanted the states to have more power, other delegates elected for a stronger central body to hold more authority over the states (Lloyd) 7 Separation of Powers Regardless of their views on how much power the government should have, oppression by the British government had left all the delegates eager to establish a system of spreading that power to avoid one body gaining too much influence. This issue was also addressed in the Articles of Confederation; however, by leaving too much power with the states delegates found there was no unifying body to connect the states. While most delegates agreed that this should not be the case, the question of how to limit an executive’s power was very controversial. Their ideas included a diffusion of power and a system of election (“The Major Debates”). A major concern, however, was that the power would be left to one person. One option for separating the powers stemmed from philosopher Montesquieu’s tripartite system (“Separation of Powers”). In his 1748 book, Montesquieu discussed the benefits of power distributed across legislative, executive, and judicial bodies. Some delegates believed that this, the most highly decentralized of the options proposed, would be the best for establishing a government. Structure of the Legislature Perhaps one of the biggest questions was how to structure the legislative branch. The previous structure, established under the articles, was a unicameral body in which each state had one vote. One option was to continue this structure; states would be equally represented in one congress. Some delegates argued that this was misrepresentative of state population and instead pushed for a system in which larger and more populous states would have more votes. An additional issue within this debate was whether or not slaves should be counted in determining a population count. The delegates also had to determine how they would elect delegates to their congressional body or bodies. Some delegates felt that it would be best for members to be elected by the people while others felt the state legislature should have that authority (“The Major Debates”).
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