Constitutional Convention Committee
StuyMUNC 2017
Chair: Livia Kunins-Berkowitz
Director: Chloe Hanson
Liaison: Ahmed Sultan
Dear Delegates,
My name is Livia Kunins-Berkowitz and I am so excited to be your chair for the
Constitutional Convention committee at Stuyvesant MUNC 2017. I am a senior at Stuyvesant
and have participated in Model UN since I was in 7​th​ grade. I love politics and American history,
which led me to this committee.
I am particularly excited about this committee because we all have an opportunity to
learn about and perhaps change the document upon which our country was founded. The issues
we will focus on are the Electoral College, federalism, and the construction of congress. I
encourage you all to take the historical aspect of this committee seriously. The non-traditional
structure of the background guide was intended to further this goal. While your research may
include events that occurred after September 6​th​, 1787, in committee we will only acknowledge
events that took place before this date. In addition, for this committee delegates can wear either
western business attire or clothing that would be appropriate in 1787.
Please dive beyond the background guide (and Hamilton) when preparing for this
committee. Explore the Articles of Confederation and perhaps some key philosophers, such as
John Locke, to understand the popular strains of thought in 1787. I expect rigorous debate and
will look favorably upon delegates who honor the positions and ideas of their characters.
The Stuyvesant Model UN team has worked extremely hard to ensure that this
conference will be both challenging and extremely fun. I personally cannot wait for what this
committee has in store. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me at
[email protected]. I cannot wait to meet all of you and watch you in action. See you in April!
Livia Kunins-Berkowitz
General George Washington, September 6, 1787
Gentlemen,
It is with great satisfaction that I write to you all. We have made tremendous progress
thus far in the construction of this new, great nation grounded in our new constitution. We have
established a justice system, legislative body, and executive power in the first three articles of the
constitution. We have also constructed an amendment and ratification process. Despite these
tremendous achievements and great displays of compromise, we must address several remaining
issues.
I. We must devise a balance of power between the federal government and the states of
this nation. When you gentlemen, and our esteemed colleagues penned the Articles of
Confederation in 1977, we struggled to agree on the role of the states in America. We agreed
upon the construction of a confederation​—​a union of equal states, with specific powers
controlled by the federal government. After struggling under the tyranny of King George III, we
feared a centralized state. Thus, the government under the Articles of Confederation consisted of
a unicameral legislature, or one house, called the Confederation Congress. There was no national
executive or judiciary body. Delegates in Congress were appointed by the state legislatures, and
each state had one vote.
Under The Articles of Confederation, Congress had the authority to declare war, develop
foreign policy, coin money, regulate Native American affairs in the territories, run the post
office, borrow money, and appoint army and navy officers, however, all powers not directly
given to the Congress, were to be handled by the states. Consequently, the Congress did not have
the direct power to tax or to regulate interstate and foreign trade. The congress could only ask the
states for money with no means to compel payment, and the states had the right to impose their
own duties on imports, which undermined congressional control of interstate commerce. All
major policy issues, war and peace, treaties, the appropriation of funds, required the approval of
nine states.
We constructed this form of government in response to the unitary system (a system with
most of the power allotted to the king and parliament) employed by the British government.
Despite the merits of this system, we have seen its failures. It is near impossible to make
decisions in an efficient manner, we are struggling to implement a national currency, and cannot
solve quarrels between states. Furthermore, because of a lack of a unified government we cannot
raise an army in order to suppress armed insurrections that will inevitably occur such as Shay’s
rebellion raging in Massachusetts as we speak. We must once and for all resolve the debate
between federalism and confederalism. We must establish which powers will fall under the
domain of the federal government, shared between the states and government, or completely left
to the states.
II. It is also imperative to discuss how voting power will be balanced between states in a
Congress. Should there be one vote per state in a chamber, or should votes be given out to states
in proportion to the population of the state?
The honorable 7th Governor of Virginia Edmund Jennings Randolph and the esteemed
James Madison, both of whom will be joining us at this great convention, proposed The Virginia
Plan last May. This plan includes a bicameral legislature (a legislature comprised of two houses)
in which the number of representatives elected for each state is proportional to the free
inhabitants of that state. States with larger populations, like Virginia, North Carolina, and
Massachusetts, are in favor of this structure, while, conversely, states with lower populations Tennessee, Delaware, and Rhode Island–have thus far rejected this plan. This plan permits
members of one chamber to be elected by the people, while that chamber would elect
representatives in the other chamber, based upon suggestions from state officials.
If we adapt such a plan we must discuss how to account for the citizens of a state,
specifically, how to account for the vast slave populations in the South. Our brothers from the
South and our brothers from the North have been debating this issue for months. Many Southern
representatives hope that the slave population will be accounted for in order to gain greater
representation in congress. Indeed, 34% of the Southern population is enslaved. On the other
hand, Northerners largely reject this suggestion—the slave population in the North is under 4%.
The New Jersey Plan, presented by the honorable Attorney General of New Jersey
William Paterson this past June, proposes for there to be a unicameral legislature (a legislature
comprised of one house) in which there is one representative, and therefore one vote, for each
state. This Plan has been favored by the smaller states of the Union - such as Delaware, Rhode
Island and Tennessee. The plan that our colleagues proposed includes several essential
amendments to the Articles of Confederation. First, they would like to provide congress with the
power to implement tariffs and regulate interstate commerce. They also hoped that congress
would have the power to tax the states based upon the number of citizens in the state and 3/5ths
of the slave population in the state.
III. Finally dear colleagues, we must decide how to select the executive​. Many delegates
have made persuasive suggestions: election by state governors, election Congress, or election
directly by the people. We must honor democracy, but also understand the possible dangers of
bowing to tyranny of the majority. Just last week several of our colleagues proposed a new idea
that they call the “Committee of Eleven". They suggest that this board of electors should choose
the executive. Much of this idea remains to be seen. Who would this board be comprised of?
What would be their specific powers?
In the remaining months we shall settle these disputes and finalize our constitution. This
document will serve as the bedrock of our new nation. We must strive to ensure justice for all
classes of citizens​—​every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree. It would be
inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to suggest that the challenge in front of us is
mighty, but I have the strongest confidence that we will resolve our disputes. May the father of
all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, in our paths.
G. Washington
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