convention, in U.S. politics, a gathering of delegates to nominate candidates for elective office and to formulate party policy. They are held at the national, state, and local levels.

Organization and Characteristic Features

The organization of a national convention is the responsibility of the party's national committee, which begins making arrangements for the accommodation of hundreds of delegates and the administration of the convention at least a year in advance. Delegates have been chosen by a variety of methods, including primary elections, state and local conventions, or state and local committee meetings, but an increasing majority are now chosen by primaries. Although the two parties follow the same basic pattern of basing representation on the population of the state and the party's strength within the state, the Democratic party introduced a series of reforms after the 1968 convention that modified its traditional delegate selection system. Quotas, assuring proportional representation for women, youths, and blacks, were used for the 1972 convention but later modified in favor of a general commitment to gender equality and minority representation. Balloting at both the Republican and Democratic conventions is by states. The unit rule, forcing all of a state's votes to be cast by the majority for one candidate, was abolished by the Democrats in 1968; it had been in effect since 1832. Although today the acceptance speech of the nominee is the recognized climax of the convention, it was not until Franklin Delano Roosevelt flew to Chicago to accept the Democratic nomination in 1932 that a nominee accepted the nomination in person.

History

State conventions for nominating candidates were first held in the early 19th cent. The first national convention was held by the Anti-Masonic party in Baltimore in 1831. Formerly the candidates for President and Vice President were selected by a party caucus, i.e. a meeting of influential members of Congress, and they favored their colleagues. In 1832 the Democrats nominated Andrew Jackson at a national convention. The Republican party held its first national convention in 1856, when John Frémont was chosen as the presidential candidate.

Candidates were often selected only after many ballots had been taken. This was especially true of the Democratic party, which, until 1936, had required successful nominees to win two thirds of the delegates' votes. Thus, Stephen Douglas was nominated on the 59th ballot in 1860, Woodrow Wilson on the 46th ballot in 1912, and John W. Davis on the 103d ballot in 1924. The difficulty of gaining agreement on a candidate at conventions led to a unique feature of the American political scene: the dark horse—a candidate with little or no formal support before the opening of the convention, who succeeded in gaining the nomination. Since 1960, however, national conventions have tended to ratify front-runner candidates increasingly determined by delegates won in primaries and state caucuses, rather than select from among evenly matched rivals. National political conventions appear to have changed from their initial function as nominating mechanisms into mobilizers of party energy for the upcoming campaign.

Tauroggen, Convention of: see Taurage, Lithuania.

Rush-Bagot Convention, 1817, agreement between the United States and Great Britain concerning the Canadian border. It consisted of the exchange of notes signed by Richard Rush, Acting Secretary of State of the United States, and Charles Bagot, British minister in Washington. In 1818 the U.S. Senate gave its consent to the notes, thus giving them the authority of a treaty. The convention provided for practical disarmament on the U.S.-Canadian frontier; each nation should have no more than four warships, none to exceed 100 tons, on the Great Lakes. The agreement, a result of negotiations begun after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, was important because it set a precedent for the pacific settlement of Anglo-American difficulties and because it inaugurated a policy of peace between the United States and Canada. Only one move was made to abrogate it—during the Civil War strained relations with Canada caused the Secretary of State, William H. Seward, to announce (1864) that the United States intended to abrogate, but before the six months of grace had elapsed the announcement was canceled (1865).

Montreux Convention, 1936, international agreement regarding the Dardanelles. The Turkish request for permission to refortify the Straits zone was favorably received by nations anxious to return to international legality as well as to gain an ally against German and Italian expansion. The former signatories to the Treaty of Lausanne (1923; see Lausanne, Treaty of) together with Yugoslavia and Australia met at Montreux, Switzerland, in 1936 and abolished the International Straits Commission, returning the Straits zone to Turkish military control. Turkey was authorized to close the Straits to warships of all countries when it was at war or threatened by aggression. Merchant ships were to be allowed free passage during peacetime and, except for countries at war with Turkey, during wartime. The Black Sea powers (principally the USSR) were authorized to send their fleets through the Straits into the Mediterranean in peacetime. The convention was ratified by Turkey, Great Britain, France, the USSR, Bulgaria, Greece, Germany, and Yugoslavia, and—with reservations—by Japan.

Kloster-Zeven, Convention of, 1757. Early in the Seven Years War the English army, under the command of the duke of Cumberland, son of George II, was defeated by the French at Hastenbeck. Cumberland capitulated at the former Benedictine abbey near Zeven (a small town, formerly in Hanover, NE of Bremen) and allowed the French to occupy Hanover. The convention was disavowed by the English government, and Cumberland was relieved of his military position.

Hartford Convention, Dec. 15, 1814-Jan. 4, 1815, meeting to consider the problems of New England in the War of 1812; held at Hartford, Conn. Prior to the war, New England Federalists (see Federalist party) had opposed the Embargo Act of 1807 and other government measures; many of them continued to oppose the government after fighting had begun. Although manufacturing (fostered by isolation) and contraband trade brought wealth to the section, "Mr. Madison's War" (as the Federalists called the War of 1812) and its expenses became steadily more repugnant to the New Englanders. The Federalist leaders encouraged disaffection. The New England states refused to surrender their militia to national service (see Griswold, Roger), especially when New England was threatened with invasion in 1814. The federal loan of 1814 got almost no support in New England, despite prosperity there. Federalist extremists, such as John Lowell and Timothy Pickering, contemplated a separate peace between New England and Great Britain. Finally, in Oct., 1814, the Massachusetts legislature issued a call to the other New England states for a conference. Representatives were sent by the state legislatures of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island; other delegates from New Hampshire and Vermont were popularly chosen by the Federalists. The meetings were held in secret. George Cabot, the head of the Massachusetts delegation and a moderate Federalist, presided. Other important delegates were Harrison Gray Otis (1765-1848), also a moderate, and Theodore Dwight, who served as secretary of the convention. The moderates prevailed in the convention. The proposal to secede from the Union was discussed and rejected, the grievances of New England were reviewed, and such matters as the use of the militia were thrashed out. The final report (Jan. 5, 1815) arraigned Madison's administration and the war and proposed several constitutional amendments that would redress what the New Englanders considered the unfair advantage given the South under the Constitution. The news of the Treaty of Ghent ending the war and of Andrew Jackson's victory at New Orleans made any recommendation of the convention a dead letter. Its importance, however, was twofold: It continued the view of states' rights as the refuge of sectional groups, and it sealed the destruction of the Federalist party, which never regained its lost prestige.

Federal Constitutional Convention: see Constitutional Convention.

Constitutional Convention, in U.S. history, the 1787 meeting in which the Constitution of the United States was drawn up.

The Road to the Convention

The government adopted by the Thirteen Colonies in America (see Confederation, Articles of, and Continental Congress) soon showed serious faults. Congress, powerless to enforce its legislation, was unable to obtain adequate financial support. Although its achievements were not so inconsiderable as has been commonly thought, Congress was, on the whole, impotent, and federal authority was too weak to be of consequence. The central government also was unable to require fulfillment of any obligations it entered into with foreign nations.

Severe economic troubles produced radical economic and political movements, such as Shays's Rebellion. The monetary schemes of the states brought floods of paper money, which some of the states, notably Rhode Island, attempted to force creditors to accept. The threat to economic stability alarmed the wealthy conservative class; the merchants, who found the state tariffs not to their liking, were also harassed by the impossibility of making stable agreements with the English merchants. They were anxious to have a stronger federal government to guarantee order and property rights. The men who had money invested in Western territories also favored a stronger federal government controlling the territories. Therefore, agitation for the adoption of a stronger union grew steadily in force.

Its advocates were zealous. James Madison and George Washington in Virginia, Alexander Hamilton in New York, and James Wilson (1742-98) and Benjamin Franklin in Pennsylvania all favored some new scheme. The pamphlet of Pelatiah Webster was important, although it has been, perhaps, overemphasized by enthusiasts; feeling for union was general.

It was chiefly through the efforts of Madison that Virginia and Maryland agreed to a conference concerning navigation on the Potomac. The conference met in 1785 at Alexandria and at Mt. Vernon, but it was discovered that no agreements could be reached without the concurrence of Pennsylvania and Delaware. The upshot was the calling of a general convention of the states to discuss commercial problems.

This met at Annapolis in Sept., 1786, but delegates from only five states—Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware—arrived. The delegates therefore announced the calling of a general convention to revise the Articles of Confederation, to meet at Philadelphia in May, 1787. Notice was sent to Congress, but the new convention was launched as an extralegal body; cautious Congressional endorsement came only after five states had already selected their delegates.

The Constitution Emerges

The convention at Philadelphia drew up one of the most influential documents of Western world history, the Constitution of the United States. All the states except Rhode Island sent representatives. The delegates mainly came from the wealthier and more conservative ranks of society and included, besides Washington and the other proponents already mentioned, such leaders as Edmund Randolph, Gouverneur Morris, Robert Morris, William Paterson, Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Abraham Baldwin, Luther Martin, and Roger Sherman.

Washington was elected to preside, and the convention immediately set about drawing up a new scheme of government. However, it found itself faced with a rift: the smaller states wanted to retain their power, and the larger states wanted to have power determined by population. It was agreed that the new Congress should be made an effective body, but as to its composition there was great difference of opinion.

The fundamental question was the apportionment of power in the new government. Edmund Randolph offered a plan known variously as the Randolph, the Virginia, or the Large-State Plan; it provided for a bicameral legislature, with the lower house elected according to population and the upper house elected by the lower. William Paterson offered the New Jersey, or the Small-State, Plan; it provided for equal representation of states in Congress. Neither the large states nor the small states would yield, and for a time it seemed that the convention would founder. Oliver Ellsworth and Roger Sherman put forward a compromise measure that gradually won approval; this provided for a lower house to be elected according to population (the House of Representatives) and an upper house to be chosen by the states (the Senate). This initial compromise defused the threat of a walkout by the small states, and the convention settled down to complete its task.

It was agreed that Congress should have the power to levy direct but not indirect taxes. The matter of counting slaves in the population for figuring representation was settled by a compromise agreement that established that three fifths of the slaves should be counted in apportioning representation; slaves were to be treated as property in assessing taxes. Controversy over abolishing the importation of slaves ended with agreement that the importation should not be forbidden before 1808. There were, naturally, many other points of argument, and some of the delegates were so disgusted that they went home and later led the fight in their states against the ratification of the Constitution.

James Madison was responsible for much of the substance of the Constitution, but the style was the work of Gouverneur Morris. The convention was in session until Sept. 17, 1787, and the document was then sent to the states for ratification. Delaware ratified it first, on Dec. 7 of that year. There were serious struggles in most of the states (see Federalist, The; Federalist party), especially since the convention had obviously gone beyond its mandate merely to amend the Articles of Confederation.

North Carolina and Rhode Island rejected the Constitution, but the majority clause brought the Constitution into force without them by the end of June, 1788, and they were later forced to accept it. The thesis, associated with the name of Charles Austin Beard, that the Constitution was framed solely to further the economic interest of special groups, notably creditors, land speculators, and holders of public securities, has not been generally accepted by historians.

Bern Convention: see copyright.

Annapolis Convention, 1786, interstate convention called by Virginia to discuss a uniform regulation of commerce. It met at Annapolis, Md. With only 5 of the 13 states—Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—represented, there could be no full-scale discussion of the commercial problems the nation faced as a result of the weak central government under the Articles of Confederation. The main achievement of the convention was the decision to summon a new meeting for the express purpose of considering changes in the Articles of Confederation to make the union more powerful. An address was drawn up by Alexander Hamilton and was sent to all the states, asking them to send delegates to Philadelphia in May, 1787. The move was extraconstitutional, but Congress passed a resolution urging attendance. The call from Annapolis was heeded and delegates from 12 states met. From that Federal Constitutional Convention was to emerge the Constitution of the United States.

or party conference

In politics, a meeting of members of a political party at the local, state, or national level to select party leaders and candidates for office and to determine party policy. During presidential election years in the U.S., the main parties hold conventions that serve to showcase their presidential and vice presidential candidates and to boost the morale of party members for the campaigns that follow. Conventions were instituted in the U.S. in the 1830s to replace the often exclusive and secretive caucus system; it was hoped that the conventions' openness would make them less vulnerable to control by party bosses. Most candidates for political office at all levels in the U.S. are now nominated through primary elections, and the conventions merely ratify the candidates already selected by the voters. Political parties in other countries (e.g., Great Britain) often hold annual party conferences.

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(Dec. 5, 1814–Jan. 5, 1815) Secret meeting of Federalist Party delegates from New England states who opposed the War of 1812. It adopted a strong states'-rights position in opposition to the mercantile policies of Pres. James Madison and the Embargo Act of 1807 and other measures that prohibited trade with Britain and France. News of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent on Dec. 24, 1814, which ended the war, discredited the nascent separatist movement at the convention and weakened Federalist influence.

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(May–September 1787) Assembly that drafted the Constitution of the United States. All states but Rhode Island sent delegates in response to a call by the Annapolis Convention for a meeting in Philadelphia to amend the Articles of Confederation. The delegates decided to replace the Articles with a document that strengthened the federal government. An important issue was the apportioning of legislative representation. Two plans were presented: the Virginia plan, favoured by the large states, apportioned representatives by population or wealth; the New Jersey plan, favoured by the small states, provided for equal representation for each state. A compromise established the bicameral Congress to ensure both equal and proportional representation. The document was approved on September 17 and sent to the states for ratification.

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officially International Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works

International agreement adopted in Bern, Switz., in 1886 to protect copyrights on an international basis. It was modified several times throughout the 20th century. Its signatories constitute the Bern Copyright Union. Each member country grants the authors of other member countries the same rights that its laws grant its own nationals. Protected works include every kind of literary, scientific, and artistic production, regardless of mode of expression, including paintings, sculptures, architectural plans, and musical arrangements. Copyright is now protected for 70 years after the creator's death.

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(September 1786) Meeting in Annapolis, Md., U.S., that caused the convening of the Constitutional Convention. Delegates from five states gathered to discuss problems in maritime commerce but found they could not solve them without making changes to the Articles of Confederation. They issued a call to all states to meet in Philadelphia in 1787 to resolve the difficulties.

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