21 June to 26 July 1788
New Hampshire makes nine, then Virginia and New York
New Hampshire’s convention adjourned in February 1788 to avoid a defeat. It meets again at Concord and ratifies on 21 June, 57 to 47, as the ninth state. The Constitution can now take effect among the ratifying states, but Virginia and New York have not yet decided.
In Virginia, Madison faces Patrick Henry and George Mason in a convention at Richmond that lasts three weeks. On 25 June it ratifies 89 to 79 and recommends a long list of amendments, before the news from New Hampshire arrives.
Patrick Henry, who led the opposition at the Virginia convention, portrait by George Bagby Matthews after Thomas Sully, about 1891Wikimedia Commons, George Bagby Matthews (1857 - 1943), after Thomas Sully (1783-1872), Public domain (Patrick henry.JPG)
New York’s convention at Poughkeepsie opens with the Anti-Federalists outnumbering the Federalists two to one. After the news from New Hampshire and Virginia it ratifies on 26 July, 30 to 27. New York and Virginia both call for a second general convention, which is never held. Eleven states have ratified.
The federal ship Hamilton in the New York parade for the Constitution, 23 July 1788, later engravingWikimedia Commons, Scan by NYPL, Public domain (Parade in honor of the adoption of the Federal Constitution, 1788 (NYPL NYPG97-F84-423461).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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