7 to 18 December 1787
Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey ratify
The Constitution goes to the public in September and the argument begins in the newspapers. Federalists support it. Anti-Federalists warn of a distant government, a standing army and the lack of a bill of rights. From 27 October Hamilton, Madison and Jay publish the essays later collected as The Federalist in New York newspapers.
Title page of the first collected edition of The Federalist, 1788Wikimedia Commons, Yale Law Library, CC BY 2.0 (The Federalist (1788).jpg)
Delaware’s convention ratifies at Dover on 7 December by 30 votes to none. Pennsylvania’s follows at Philadelphia on 12 December, 46 to 23. In September the Federalists in the Pennsylvania assembly had absent members brought in by force to make the quorum needed to call the convention. New Jersey ratifies at Trenton on 18 December by 38 votes to none.
The Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, now Independence Hall, painting by Ferdinand Richardt, 1858 to 1863Wikimedia Commons, Ferdinand Richardt, Public domain (Independence Hall in Philadelphia by Ferdinand Richardt, 1858-63.jpg)
Sources
- Pauline Maier, Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787–1788 (2010).
- Gordon S. Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–1787 (1969).
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