Constitutional Convention

Dear Delegates,

Welcome to Philadelphia 1787 and the Constitutional Convention.  Get ready for an exciting ride through history!  We will be compressing four months of statecraft into four days, so get excited!  This committee provides an incredible opportunity to rewrite history, or, more aptly, to write history for the first time.  You will each represent one of the esteemed delegates present at the Philadelphia Convention, complete with state loyalties, personal prejudices, and political leanings.  You will find yourselves engaged in vigorous debate and intense arguments over issues of representation, taxation, and executive authority, struggling through the very same concerns that faced our Founding Fathers.  Additionally, we look forward to seeing how aspects of your own worldviews come through during our time together.  At the end of our frantic and fabulous experience, you will have created a new kind of nation, unlike any other in the 18th century world we will be simulating.  Will our creation stand the test of time, fulfilling the promise of the Revolution and the Declaration of Independence?  That all depends on you.

Laura Hirschberg, a.k.a. George "I cannot tell a lie" Washington," is a senior English concentrator.  This is her third trip to 1787 in her four years at Harvard.  Last year, she took a quick trip to the 1930s with Historical Committee, but she looks forward to donning the (figurative) powdered wig once again at HMC 2009.  When she isn't participating in simulation statecraft, Laura spends most of her time behind the scenes in Harvard theater or singing with Kuumba, Harvard's outstanding gospel choir.

This is going to be an incredibly rewarding and dynamic experience, and I absolutely cannot wait to share it with you. In your preparation for the conference, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions for to engage in further discussion. Best of luck, and I’ll see you in 1787!

Sincerely,

Laura Hirschberg
hirschb@fas.harvard.edu