Upload
yale-model-united-nations
View
227
Download
3
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Download Here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/49183120/RB_ANTEBELLUM_final.pdf Position Papers are due 1/9/14 to the Delegate Forum Portal if delegates wish to receive feedback.
Citation preview
Antebellum Congress 1
!
Antebellum Congress 3
!
LETTER FROM THE DAIS
Dear Delegates,
Hello everyone! My name is Wendy and I, along with Emily, am your senior staffer YMUN 39’s Commission on the Status of Women. Currently, I’m a sophomore at Yale, majoring in Psychology with a Neuroscience track with plans to go to graduate school.
Outside of the classroom and YMUN, I am also part of Yale’s Mock Trial team, a mentor in WYSE (Women and Youth Supporting Each Other), a mentoring group for local middle school girls, and I am running a non-profit, Codi’s Hats.
With the ever-evolving policies on reproductive health rights and women’s rights, I’m ex-cited to see the different stances and cultural clashes that the topics may bring out. I look forward to seeing how you all respond in the committee. See you soon!
- Wendy Cai, Yale ‘15
Hi guys! I’m Emily, and I will also be working as one of the directors for CSW. A North-ern California native, I’m currently a sophomore at Yale in Branford College, majoring in Economics with a possible double major in East Asian Studies. After graduation, I hope to live and work in China for several years before pursuing a graduate degree, possibly in business or law.
When not going to classes or preparing for YMUN, I also serve as a mentor in ReadySet-Launch, an organization providing college counseling services to low-income students, participate in Danceworks, a dance group at Yale, and I serve on the alumni fundraising board for my high school. I also enjoy cooking, baking, and playing softball.
I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the topics we have prepared for committee this year. Women’s rights remain a hotly debated topic globally, and I know you all are going to come up with informed, innovative solutions to these pressing problems. Please don’t hes-itate to email either Wendy or me with any questions or concerns.
- Emily Harris, Yale ‘15
All the best, Wendy Cai ([email protected]) Emily Harris ([email protected])
Dear Delegates,
Our names are Sam Lowenkamp and Lizzie Hylton. We’re both juniors in Yale College. I (Sam) am
studying Computer Science and I (Lizzie) am double majoring in Global Affairs and Mechanical Engineering
[lolwut?]. We’ve been friends since Lizzie attended the Jefferson Scholars Weekend at UVA and met Sam’s 2
year-and-running suitemate, Paul (he doesn’t matter for YMUN). Point is, we’ve been friends since we were
freshman and we’re really excited to be directing this committee together.
In case you need proof that we are qualified to run a committee together, you should know that we
ran one of the highest rated committees at SCSY (Yale’s college MUN conference) together in fall 2012 – a
joint crisis committee based in the Star Wars universe. Lizzie is also from Virginia, so that gives her a sizeable
amount of knowledge about the Civil War. But more on that later.
Sam hails from Cleveland, Ohio. He has a sizeable family – he’s the oldest of four and his family
owns two bulldogs. Needless to say, his house is always busy and he’s used to a significant level of chaos in his
life. At the same time, he will probably cast all of you as stand-in younger siblings in his life for the time you’re
at this conference. Unless, of course, his younger brother actually attends the conference, in which case Aaron
will be his real life younger sibling. Not to worry, though, Aaron will not be permitted to participate in the
Antebellum Congress Committee, so you don’t need to worry about favoritism.
As mentioned above, Lizzie is from Virginia – Charlottesville, to be specific. She likes to keep it real
by participating on MUNTY, Yale’s competitive Model United Nations team. Just to be clear, by participating,
we here mean “was Head Delegate last year.” Outside of MUNTY, Lizzie is known for frequenting our local
Popeye’s and acting as a Master’s Aide in Saybrook College. She also has spent the last semester living in
Prague so may come back with a fake accent, but that’s still too be determined.
If we haven’t been clear enough to begin with, we’re tremendously excited to work with you in the
Antebellum Congress as part of YMUN XL. You’re going to have an amazing conference experience which, of
course, means that we will, too.
Welcome
!!!!!!!!
Lizzie and Sam
!
Antebellum Congress 4
!
TABLE OF CONTENTS History of Congress 5 Creating a System for Accepting New States to the Union
Topic History 6 Current Situation 7 Questions to Consider 13 Bloc Positions 14
Role of the Committee 15 Structure of the Committee 16 Suggestions for Further Research 17 "##$%#$&'! ! ! ! ! ! ()!
Antebellum Congress 5
!
The United States Congress can,
arguably, trace its roots back to the First
Continental Congress, which first convened in
the 1770s. This Congress was a convention of
delegates from the various colonies that
eventually became the United States of America.
On July 4th
, 1776, the Second Continental
Congress passed the Declaration of
Independence, declaring the United States of
America a separate entity from Great Britain. In
1789, the United States Congress as we know it
became active. This Congress was, and is to this
day, a bicameral legislature consisting of both a
House of Representatives, directly elected by the
members of the populace and consisting of a
representative number of representatives from
each state, and the Senate, consisting of two
representatives from each state and, until the
ratification of the 17th
amendment in 1913,
elected by members of the legislature.
First Continental Congress
In the United States, Congress plays an
important part in the balance of powers
relationship between the executive, judicial, and
legislative branches of the government. As the
federal representative of the legislative branch,
Congress is responsible for drafting and passing
legislation to govern the land. Congress is also
responsible for putting the other branches of the
government, both executive and judicial, on
trial. Along the same lines, Congress is the only
branch of government capable of altering the
United States Constitution, on which the United
States government is fully dependent.
History of Congress!
Antebellum Congress 6
!
Despite America’s attractive promise as the
“land of the free,” the United States has a deep and
storied past with slavery. Beginning in the colonial
days, early settlers imported African slaves to work
in their homes, businesses, and plantations. In the
decades following the Revolutionary War, demand
for slaves steadily increased as commodity crops,
in particular cotton, became more profitable
through inventions such as the cotton gin.
At the same time, abolitionist movements
spread through the Northern States. By 1804,
every state north of the Mason-Dixon line had
passed some form of anti-slavery legislation or
constitution. While many of these early
abolitionist laws preferred a gradual freeing of the
North’s slave population over an immediate
switch, it is important to note that the states of the
time unified as either “slave states” or “free states.”
The tension between the two sides can be seen as
far back as the Northwest Ordinance of 1787,
which involved a battle in Congress over whether
or not to free the slaves already present in that
territory.
Map After the Northwest Ordinanc
As time progressed, a series of
compromises led to a nationwide competition
between the Slave States and the Free States over
representation in Congress. On the Senate side,
the groups needed to ensure that there were an
equal number of each type of state. In the House,
they battled to influence the way that governance
of slaves worked including runaway laws and
other such issues.
TOPIC I.
Creating a System for Accepting New States to the Union Topic History !
Antebellum Congress 7
!
The year is now 1820. The “Missouri
Compromise,” as our textbooks refer to it, is
fighting its way through Congress. During the last
session of Congress, the first form of the Missouri
Compromise went before the House. This bill,
presented as a compromise between the pro-
slavery and anti-slavery factions of Congress,
allowed for the admission of the Missouri
Territory to the Union after it drafted its own
constitution and created its own government. In
effect, this allowed the people of the Missouri
Territory to govern themselves while waiting to
make their way through the process of being
admitted to the Union.
While in debate in the House,
Representative James Tallmadge of New York put
forth the Tallmadge Amendment which declared
that no further slaves should be introduced to the
Missouri Territory and all children born to slave
parents should be freed upon their twenty fifth
birthday. The compromise, including this
amendment, passed the House in February of
1819. The Senate, on the other hand, could not
accept the Tallmadge Amendment and thus the
bill was quashed not, however, before the
Tallmadge Amendment could create an uproar in
the South.
Because Alabama was recently admitted as
a slave state, the United States had an equal 11
slave states and 11 free states. Had the Tallmadge
Amendment passed, it would have skewed the
nation toward the free states. This helped instill in
the Southern states a deep fear of an overly strong
federal government that could eventually destroy
the system of slavery necessary for Southern
plantation owners’ way of life.
The new form of the bill now under
consideration allows for the admission of Maine as
a free state, the exclusion of slavery from the
Louisiana Purchase, or the territory above the
parallel 36°30! north, and a provision allowing the
people of Missouri to determine their own policy
toward slavery, effectively marking them a slave
state, despite its position above the 36°30! parallel.
Portrait of James Tallmadge The first issue on which this committee
will deliberate is whether or not to pass the
Missouri Compromise, and, if it is enacted, what
its form should take. Many Americans in the mid-
1800s believed that the Missouri Compromise was
a fundamental aspect of the American legal system
and that it helped delay the beginning of the Civil
War. Delegates should consider whether or not
they believe the Missouri Compromise properly
situated the nation to weather the storm of slavery
policy and the various foreign policy issues which
threatened the nation during this time. There are
several factors that weigh in to the various
Current Situation
Antebellum Congress 8
!
decisions made by the states during this period.
First, Southern slave owners were entirely
economically dependant on their slave
populations. Particularly due to the 3/5ths
Compromise, plantation owners wielded a
disproportionately high voting weight. This means
that their representatives in Congress were focused
on protecting those plantation owners’ way of life.
This was dependant on slavery. Particularly in the
Senate, although also in the House, this meant
that slave states must be added at at least the same
rate, if not a higher rate, than free states. Many
Southern plantation owners and Congressional
representatives deeply feared that Northerners
would seize control of the Federal government by
expanding the number of free states and use the
federal government to free their slaves, effectively
stripping them of their way of life.
On the other side of this coin, of course, is
the fact that Southern plantation owners staked
their livelihood on the enslavement of an entire
race of people. This was not agreeable to many
people in the North. In fact, many historians
believed that the 3/5ths Compromise was only
agreed to under an intent to have it quickly
removed once the new-born nation had grown
stronger. Instead, Northerners believed, it had
been used to give the South and slave states a
disproportionate representation in Congress,
particularly over the non-slave holding or small
time farmers of the South who did not own slaves
and thus did not wield such a large vote.
On top of these issues, the United States
was still a very young nation. It had not even been
around long enough to celebrate its 100th
birthday. Compared to European nations of the
time, the United States was a baby and its future
was in constant question. Because of this, many
states, both in the North and South, believed that
they needed to defend themselves from their
fellow states lest one state or region seek to gain
too much power.
Now, back to the issue at hand: The
Missouri Compromise. In drafting a new form of
the Compromise, delegates should guide their
analysis and subsequent rebuilding of the Missouri
Compromise along a few lines. First, how does the
compromise alter the current number of free and
slave states?
In its current form, the bill would
maintain the balance between Slave and Free states
by increasing the count of each by one. Maine
would bring the free states up to 12 and Missouri
would do the same for the slave states.
Is this a good thing?
Antebellum Congress 9
!
Politicians at the time certainly believed
that maintaining the balance between slave and
free states was necessary. Northern Senators
helped block the Tallmadge Amendment. While
Northerners were frustrated by the
disproportionate influence of Southern
slaveholders, they recognized the need to allow the
still-young nations political mechanisms to gain
legitimacy. Since the founding of the nation,
Southern slaveholders had wielded
disproportionate influence through the infamous
three-fifths Compromise. This Compromise
counted slaves as three-fifths of a vote to be cast by
their owner. This gave slaveholders
disproportionate influence over Southern non-
slave holding whites and allowed them to
effectively rule Southern politics. Despite these
frustrations, Northern politicians sought to
maintain the political balance, Southern politicians
feared an increasingly powerful federal
government. As delegates in this committee, we
expect you to appropriately represent these issues
as they would have been represented in the time
period.
Second, how does the compromise permit
for the addition of potential future states and how
do those states fit into the balance of free and slave
states? This is a particularly contemptuous issue
considering the need to defend a peoples’ right to
sovereignty and choice of rule while still
maintaining the balance necessary to allow the
operation of the United States federal government.
Further, the safety of the individuals in those
regions must be considered in weighing methods
of self-determination in relation to the question of
slavery.
We do ask that delegates remain true to
whichever state they represent -- whether that
means supporting the expansion of slavery or
fighting for the emancipation of slavery or some
sort of middle ground
However, this should not restrict delegates
to a strictly “North vs. South” style of debate.
Rather, delegates have room to compromise and
faction based on different styles of territorial
expansion and emphasis on the protection of
different rights listed above.
Some delegates may support aggressive
territorial expansion leaving the question of
slavery up to the people of the new state. Others
will support careful planning to maintain the
balance of Slave and Free states in the Union.
Others will fall in a middle ground between the
two extremes.
On the surface, this committee lends itself
to a relatively simple breakdown of voting blocs.
Afterall, the entire controversy of this time period
was based around the concept of free and slave
states. Northern States were clearly in favor of
policy which spread freedom to new states as they
Antebellum Congress 10
!
were incorporated to the union and the Southern
States, on virtue of their dependence on slavery for
their economic status, relied on slavery for their
way of life.
Similarly, and particularly among the free-
states, there was a significant amount of
disagreement over what form “freedom” should
take. Each state dealt with the status of its African
American population in different ways, and these
differences allowed for significant differences to
arise in the way each state viewed policy decisions.
Furthermore, some states were willing to work
across the “slavery aisle” to maintain the status
quo in the slavery question while other states
sought the abolishment of slavery as a whole, or
the spread of slavery to a majority of new states
inducted to the Union after 1820. In these regards,
there is room for many different coalitions to form
between states from all of the geographic parts of
the United States present during this time period.
Third, delegates should consider the
message that the Missouri Compromise will send
to other nations. The United States is still a young
nation. Should another country come to believe
that the nation is too splintered or can be easily
factioned, they may attempt to instigate war
through funding one faction or another. This
would lead to increased fracturing of the arguably
already weak Union through increased rhetoric
and in-fighting. This, of course, could easily lead
to the outbreak of a Civil War similar to the one
that occurred in history.
Fourth, we as a committee have the luxury
of hindsight to know that the expansion of the
United States into the West meant the Native
American populations living in those spaces was
entirely destroyed. Toward this goal, there was a
significant amount of fighting and bloodshed on
the frontier. While the Federally encouraged
expansion of the United States cannot be avoided
in this committee, it’s eventual impact on the
frontier should not go without consideration.
While the issue of the rights of Native Americans
was not one that politicians of the time put much
thought to, this committee will handle this issue
through the lens of the safety of the frontier.
Bleeding Kansas: American fighting on the frontier after 1820
Antebellum Congress 11
!
Fifth, and perhaps more important than
anything else, delegates should always take into
account the importance of upholding the United
States Constitution and the core values of the
United States of America, such as freedom, liberty,
and equality. As a fledgling, relatively untested
nation, it is of the utmost importance that any bills
passed by this committee support the principles
laid out by the founding fathers of the United
States. If the actions of this Congress do not
uphold these principles, it will certainly cast
doubts on the security and sustainability of the
world’s first democracy. This time period in
history was instrumental in establishing the
United States as a secure, independent, and long-
lasting nation.
Finally, delegates should attempt to find
new and creative ways of framing and solving the
problems presented by the Missouri Compromise.
A truly creative solution to this problem will
handle the issues mentioned above but will solve
them in an out-of-the-box way addressed neither
by history nor this topic guide. These kinds of
solutions will both stand out on their own merit
and will help delegates to prepare for the kind of
fast-paced analysis that will take place in the
second half of this committee. Both of these will
help a delegate to stand out in consideration for
awards.
Speaking of the second half of the
committee, since the decisions made regarding the
Missouri Compromise hold the potential to
irreparably alter the flow of American History as it
is construed in this committee, there is no way for
delegates to predict exactly what kind of issues will
arise as the timeline of our committee moves
forward. That being said, delegates can and should
prepare to deal with many of the situations which
arose during the Antebellum period. This may
include, but is not limited to, wars with Native
Americans, the Texas Revolution, the addition of
new states, the uprising of social movements, such
as the Second Great Awakening, the passing of
famous Supreme Court Decisions, and the
presence of sometimes-unfriendly Presidents in
the White House. Delegates should aim to have a
solid understanding of why the events in American
history from 1820-1865 occurred and how they are
related to the question of slavery as these questions
will help the delegates to form a more educated
stance on the specific issues that arise during the
conference, even if they are not true to history.
The Great Awakening
Because delegates will be forced to deal
with the aftermath of their decisions regarding the
Missouri Compromise, delegates should be sure to
put careful consideration into the three main
points outlined regarding the Missouri
Compromise. Once a bill has been passed,
Antebellum Congress 12
!
delegates should expect to move forward through
history.
Map of United States after Missouri Compromise
Antebellum Congress 13
!
Questions to Consider!!Missouri Compromise:
1) What are the long term repercussions of this compromise?
How will this compromise establish a system of admitting new states and facilitating the expansion of
the United States while maintaining some sort of balance between the slave and free states?
2) Does this compromise provide a short-term fix to the issues it is intended to address?
This compromise, while influencing the long-term political landscape of the United States, was not
originally intended to do so. Delegates should be sure that the compromise fixes the issues surrounding
Missouri.
General:
1) What are the constitutional repercussions of the bills enacted?
Delegates should always keep in mind the frailty of the Union at this time. Any foolish actions on the
part of Congress could easily send the Union into civil war, or bring about invasion from an outside
force.
2) Am I staying true to the motivations of the State I represent while being respectful and mindful of the atrocity, which is slavery?
Half of the delegates in this committee will be expected to argue for the expansion of slavery in the United
States. Today, we know that this is wrong and we know that the marks of slavery are being born by this country
and its people to this day. This topic is an important one to discuss but it is also one to around which to be
conscientious and respectful.!
Antebellum Congress 14
!
Bloc Positions! At the start of this committee, there are
two “main” blocs.
1) There are the slave states:
Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, South
Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina,
Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Alabama.
2) And, of course, the free states:
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New
York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Ohio,
Indiana, and Illinois.
While these blocs will dictate a large
number of the decisions that delegates are free to
make, they should not be all-binding. As
mentioned in the previous section, there is
significant room for representatives to form new
blocs based on their beliefs on the need for
expansion, popular sovereignty vs.
the need for federal law, and the other issues
mentioned above. The way these blocs split was
largely based on the way history went. As the
nation expanded westward, more and more
states were in support of entering the Union as
“free states.” This, as discussed above,
threatened the slaveholders of the South and
caused Southern representatives to take a strong
“states rights,” anti-federal government stance.
As this committee develops, it will
follow its own version of history, thus delegates
will not be expected to follow the sub-blocs of
history. Rather, they should fight to either
expand or block the expansion of slavery
through whichever channels our new version of
history provides.
While this does mean that, in many
situations, the room will remain largely divided
in a slave-free split, this is not a problem within
our committee as this will force delegates to
truly test their compromising and diplomatic
abilities in moving toward resolutions to the
issues faced by this committee.
At the same time, delegates should expect to face
at least one issue during committee
Antebellum Congress 15
!
Role of the Committee! As the United States Congress, your task will be to govern the United States of America. With our
historical hindsight, we know that the situation in the United States from 1820 through the beginning of the
American Civil War in 1860 was a highly divided and contentious one. During this period, many compromises
were made, perhaps in ways they shouldn’t have been. Eventually, the Union crashed under the weight of its own
divisions. As the Antebellum Congress, your governing tasks will focus almost exclusively on issues, topics, and
crises related to slavery in the United States and the eventual path to Civil War.
As members of this Congress, your goal should be to find an alternate history which, hopefully, will allow
you to avert the horribly bloody American Civil War. At their core, the Slave States and the Free States have
irreconcilable goals. One is motivated by lifestyle and economics to support the spread of slavery while the other is
motivated by a commitment to justice to oppose said expansion of slavery. Congress is forced to do its absolute
best to avoid conflict between these two diametrically opposed parties.
Antebellum Congress 16
!
Structure of the Committee
Because this committee is going to represent both the United States House of Representatives and the
United States Senate, it will operate in a similar but simplified fashion to that of the actual United States
Congressional bodies. A simple majority of the voting parties will allow a bill (Resolution) to pass and be sent
along to the president -- represented by the Dais team/Crisis staff.
During debate surrounding the Missouri Compromise, it will be expected that delegates pass one and
only one final version of the bill. In MUN terms, this means only one Resolution will be passed in relation to the
Missouri Compromise. However, as the committee advances through time, there will be room for delegates to
pass multiple resolutions in relation to a single topic. Should the resolutions be conflicting, this will reflect poorly
on Congress’ ability to lead and will play out negatively as time advances.
This brings us to the most important aspect of the structure of our committee: the advancement of time.
Since we will be jumping through time, delegates should come prepared to make sudden and large shifts in their
topics of conversation. These shifts will occur only after delegates hahad a chance to vote on any and all bills that
may be in circulation. When the time shifts occur, the dais team, in conjunction with its crisis staff, will update the
committee on the effects their bills have had on the nation and what the current situation or issue at hand might
be. Some jumps in time will be small, some will be large. It all depends on the quality and repercussions of the
bills passed by the Congress.
During these jumps, the staff will do its best to provide a detailed update on the status of the nation, and a
detailed description of the new crisis facing the committee. At the introduction of new crises, the staff will provide
time to field Delegate questions which clarify the new situation faced by Congress. After this initial questioning
period, any further questions should be forwarded to the dais team in the form of a note.
Aside from referring to “resolutions” as “bills,” committee will be run in the standard fashion prescribed
by Parliamentary Procedure.
Antebellum Congress 17
!
Suggestions for Further Research
The following provides a good list of events and movements that occurred during the time period (note: please do
not learn the entire list, but use it as a refresher for the types of things that happened in the period):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_history_(1820%E2%80%9359)
Overview of the Missouri Compromise: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Missouri+Compromise+of+1820
Bleeding Kansas & Compromise of 1850: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2952.html
http://www.ushistory.org/us/27.asp
http://www.ushistory.org/us/28.asp
http://www.ushistory.org/us/32.asp
Please also make sure you are registered on the delegate forum, your advisors should provide you with a sign up ink. For the latest information, updates, topic guides and more, visit Yale Model United Nations online at: http://ymun.yira.org
For the second year, YMUN will be offering a competitive essay competition. For the rules and guidelines visit: http://ymun.yira.org/essay-contest/
Interested in participating in a challenging new program for highly motivated and exceptional delegates? Apply for the Global Exchange Program at: http://ymun.yira.org/global-exchange/
Get connected and download the new Yale Model United Nations iPhone application: https://itunes.apple.com/tc/app/yale-model-united-nations/id721125366?mt=8 or search for Yale Model UN
Like Yale Model United Nations on Facebook and receive all the latest updates: https://www.facebook.com/yalemun
Stay up to date and follow Yale Model United Nations both before and during the conference: @YaleModelUN
Find the latest pictures on Yale Model United Nations’s Instagram: ymun: http://instagram.com/ymun
Antebellum Congress 18
!
NOTES
1. WIRLS, D. (2007), The “Golden Age” Senate And Floor Debate in the Antebellum Congress. Legislative
Studies Quarterly, 32: 193–222. doi: 10.3162/036298007780907932
2. "Conditions of Antebellum Slavery." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
3. Canada, Mark. "Antebellum and Civil War America." Antebellum and Civil War America, 1784-1865. University
of North Carolina at Pembroke, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
4. "Slave and Free States." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 June 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
5. "Institution." US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.