Constitutional Convention Reflective Essay

The first thing I have learned from the role play Constitutional Convention, is that the first discussions are very important. I am certain that the preliminary discussions are important because they give understanding between factions, help other members stay on the same page, and because that is when thoughts of motions are to be created. The discussions between different groups help other groups make deals, and help them understand the needs that other groups have. If the factions were not to have discussions before the voting, then when making motions, people would have to make the motions hoping others would agree. While by talking with other groups, you can discover the other groups needs. Another reason why the discussions are important is because the discussions before the actual making of the motions assure that at least one faction would

concur with the idea. The discussions could also help the people who are part of the factions understand what is going on. If a member of the faction is confused, then they would not be able to genuinely participate in the final discussions. On the other hand, during the consultation between group members, participants can understand why things are going on. The final reason why they are important is because that is when motions are thought of. During the discussion, factions can create deals and discuss them with other groups. While you can still do this without the discussions, your argument would be stronger if you did do the discussions. Ultimately, the preliminary discussions are, as a matter of fact, the most important part of the Constitutional Convention.
Another thing I noticed, is that I have learned many lessons in the process of the Constitutional Convention.

One of the lessons that I have learned, is that you have to consider on what other groups want and do not want. If you do not do this, then when you try to make a deal, they may turn it down. Although if you do plan of this, then you can persuade them with other wants or create a different deal with other factions. Another lesson that I have learned is that you have to plan on when groups actually turn down a deal. During the convention I also noticed that when you plan for this, you can make other deals you can benefit from so that you can get the same things out of the original deal. Some other lesson that I learned from this experience, is that to have a strong argument, the ability to reiterate your statement is needed. By doing this, persuading others in controversy could be easier. These lessons are important to me because in the future they can be used for different persuasion methods and that it has given me insight on what might have happened during the actual Constitutional

Convention.
The last important detail I have noticed from the role playing, is that the factions greatly affected the final decisions. For example, because of the different factions, a lot of the decisions were along what the richer people wanted. Most, if not all, of the arguments were against the slaves. This is because the wealthier people including the workers, bankers and merchants, and the plantation owners, were in greater numbers and that they had the motivation to keep the slaves out of their social, economic, and political life. After choosing that slavery is still legal, all the other controversies including slaves were easy to conclude. Although this is true, I find that the slaves sort of contributed to the final ideas. For example, when we were discussing the rules on importation of slaves, they amended it so that in 20 years, the importation of slaves may be abolished. I have also noticed that when arguments that were mostly about passion and not facts, they were very weak. When this occurred, the users of passion usually lost to their controversy. Overall, the choices that were made in the end, truly dependent on the types of factions.