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LETTER FROM THE DAIS Dear Delegates,
Dear Delegates, Our names are Sam Lowenkamp and Lizzie Hylton. We’re both juniors in Yale College. I (Sam) am
Hello everyone! My name Wendy I, along with am your staffer studying Computer Science and Iis(Lizzie) amand double majoring in Emily, Global Affairs and senior Mechanical Engineering YMUNWe’ve 39’s Commission on the Status of Women. Currently, I’m a sophomore Yale, [lolwut?]. been friends since Lizzie attended the Jefferson Scholars Weekend at UVA andat met Sam’s 2 majoring in Psychology with a doesn’t Neuroscience track withPoint plansis,towe’ve go to graduate school. year-and-running suitemate, Paul (he matter for YMUN). been friends since we were freshman and we’re really excited to be directing this committee together.
Outside of the classroom and YMUN, I am also part of Yale’s Mock Trial team, a mentor in case you need thatSupporting we are qualified to Other), run a committee together, you should know that we WYSEIn(Women andproof Youth Each a mentoring group for local middle ran one ofgirls, the highest committees at SCSY (Yale’s collegeHats. MUN conference) together in fall 2012 – a school and Irated am running a non-profit, Codi’s joint crisis committee based in the Star Wars universe. Lizzie is also from Virginia, so that gives her a sizeable amount knowledge about the Civil War. But more on that later. rights and women’s rights, I’m exWith of the ever-evolving policies on reproductive health
cited to see the different stances and cultural clashes that the topics may bring out. I look Sam fromhow Cleveland, He has sizeable family – he’s of four and his family forward tohails seeing you allOhio. respond ina the committee. Seethe youoldest soon!
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 - Wendy Cai,time, Yale he ‘15will 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 Hi guys! I’m Emily, and I will also be working as one of the directors for CSW. A NorthAntebellum Congress Committee, so you don’t need to worry about favoritism.
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 As mentioned above, Lizzie is from Virginia – Charlottesville, to be specific. She likes to keep it real to live and work in China for several years before pursuing a graduate degree, possibly in by participating on MUNTY, Yale’s competitive Model United Nations team. Just to be clear, by participating, business or law. 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 When to classes or preparing YMUN, I also serve as a mentor in ReadySetPrague so not maygoing come back with a fake accent, but for that’s still too be determined.
Launch, an organization providing college counseling services to low-income students, participate in Danceworks, a dance at Yale, I serve onexcited the alumni If we haven’t been clear enough to group begin with, we’reand tremendously to workfundraising with you in the board for my high school. I also enjoy cooking, baking, and playing softball. Antebellum Congress as part of YMUN XL. You’re going to have an amazing conference experience which, of course, means that we will, too.
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 Welcome come up with informed, innovative solutions to these pressing problems. Please don’t hesitate to email either Wendy or me with any questions or concerns. Lizzie and Sam - Emily Harris, Yale ‘15 elizabeth.hylton@yale.edu samuel.lowenkamp@yale.edu
All the best, ! Wendy Cai (wendy.cai@yale.edu) Emily Harris (emily.harris@yale.edu)
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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 "##$%#$&'! ! ! ! ! ! ()!
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History of Congress !
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
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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.
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Creating a System for Accepting New States to the Union Topic History !
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.
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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.
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Current Situation 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 proslavery 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
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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 mid1800s 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
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
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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?
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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 nonslave 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
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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 freestates, 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
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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
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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 longlasting 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
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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,
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Map of United States after Missouri Compromise
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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.!
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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
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“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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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-unitednations/id721125366?mt=8 or search for Yale Model UN
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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.
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