Ratification of the Constitution

If you had a group project that you worked on all day every day for three months, what would you do after turning it in? Probably celebrate!

The delegates at the Constitutional Convention would certainly have been exhausted after meeting for three long months during the hot summer of 1787 to write a new constitution. But even though they signed it in September, they couldn't celebrate just yet. They needed to convince at least nine of the thirteen state governments to ratify it too. While all thirteen states did eventually sign the Constitution, it was a long and difficult process, lasting for almost four years. But the intense negotiations resulted in one of the most important documents: the Bill of Rights!

Ratification of the Constitution: Definition

Ratification is when a formal government document is officially signed and goes into effect. The ratification of the Constitution refers to when the state governments voted to approve the Constitution and it officially became the law.

Ratification of the Constitution Summary

The Constitution wasn't the first framework for the US government. Before the Constitution, there were the Articles of Confederation. Under the Articles of Confederation, the various state governments pretty much retained the same amount of power and authority that they had before creating a new country together. But the country was in tremendous debt from the war and Congress had no authority to raise money or mediate disputes between the states. They could barely get enough delegates to show up! Several members of Congress convinced the rest that they needed to come together to make a newer and better framework.

Constitutional Convention

The Constitutional Convention gathered in 1787 to develop the first Constitution for the United States. In 1781 (during the Revolutionary War), Congress passed the Articles of Confederation, but it was quickly clear that the Articles weren't strong enough to keep the country together.

Figure 1: This painting depicts George Washington leading the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Source: Wikimedia Commons

A few delegates convinced Congress to write an entirely new constitution with a stronger federal government to turn the fledgling country into a legitimate government. However, some critical debates came up that almost caused the constitutional convention to fall apart.

Federalists vs. Antifederalists

There were two main factions when it came to debates about the constitution: the Federalists and the Antifederalists.

The Federalists believed that the United States needed to have a strong federal government to unite the states and provide stability. The Antifederalists preferred the system under the Articles of Confederation, where the state governments had more authority than the federal government. They feared that a federal government would become too powerful and start to abuse its authority.

This debate came to a head over key issues such as the role of the president, how to elect legislators, and how to handle slavery (see the Constitutional Convention for more information!).

Passage

After three months of debate, despite grumbling and many compromises, the delegates signed the Constitution on September 17, 1787. Out of the 55 delegates, 39 signed the Constitution, representing 11 out of the 13 states (Rhode Island refused to send delegates, and two New York delegates left before the convention was over). Benjamin Franklin said:

Ratification Process of the Constitution

Getting the Constitution passed through Congress was difficult enough - but the hard part was still to come! The states still needed to agree to ratify it too. Fortunately, it didn't have to be unanimous: in order to become the official law of the land, the Constitution had to be ratified by a majority (9 out of 13) of states. We find this requirement in Article VII of the Constitution:

Drafts of the Constitution were then sent out to each of the 13 state legislatures to see whether they would sign the Constitution.

Opposed Ratification of the Constitution

The battles between the Federalists and Antifederalists didn't end when the Constitutional Convention convened; in fact, they started to heat up even more. The delegates who were unhappy with the Constitution saw the ratification process as an opportunity to prevent it from becoming law, or at least to make some major changes.

Brutus Papers

Someone under the pen name of Brutus (believed to be Robert Yates) started publishing essays in New York newspapers to argue against the Constitution and convince the state legislature to reject it. They pointed out the dangers of the Necessary and Proper Clause, saying that it would allow the federal government to become a tyrant and tax the states to death. They criticized the lack of a bill of rights and argued that the Constitution would allow only the wealthy to become political leaders.

Federalist Papers

The Federalists couldn't let the criticisms from the Brutus Papers go unanswered. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay joined together to pen a series of essays that came to be called the Federalist Papers. They wrote 85 essays total and started out directly addressing the critiques in the Brutus Papers. Alexander Hamilton in particular went on to write some key essays about the importance of the Supreme Court in keeping the government's power in check and the importance of having a strong presidency.

Figure 2: Alexander Hamilton (in the portrait above) is credited with writing the bulk of the Federalist Papers. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Ratification of the Constitution Significance

While the drama was playing out the federalists and antifederalists in New York, some states had already moved quickly to ratify the Constitution. The first state to ratify was Delaware, on December 7, 1787. Within a few weeks, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, George, Connecticut, and Massachusetts also ratified, thanks to the Massachusetts Compromise (more on that below!) - putting the Constitution over halfway towards the needed 9 states. Maryland ratified in April, then South Carolina in May. On June 22, 1788, New Hampshire was the ninth state to ratify. With this, the Constitution was official! Congress set the official start date for the new government as March 4, 1989.

Figure 3: A postage stamp from 1938 commemorating the states ratifying the Constitution in 1788. Source: National Postal Museum, Wikimedia Commons

Eventually, all 13 states ratified the Constitution. Virginia quickly followed New Hampshire in June 1788, followed by New York in July, and North Carolina in November. Finally, Rhode Island ratified in March 1790, and Vermont in January 1791.

Massachusetts Compromise

As the debate between the Federalists and Antifederalists heated up, some Antifederalists in Massachusetts (including John Hancock and Samuel Adams) came up with a critical compromise. Massachusetts would agree to ratify the Constitution if Congress agreed to add in a Bill of Rights. Four other states Including Virginia and New York) who initially were against the Constitution agreed to the Massachusetts Compromise too.

Bill of Rights

Thanks to the negotiations during the ratification of the Constitution, we have a Bill of Rights today! The initial draft of the Constitution didn't include any individual rights. The Federalists argued that listing them out was unnecessary, while the Antifederalists argued that it was a critical provision to restrain the federal government and ensure that it did not violate citizens' rights. After several states initially refused to ratify the Constitution, the Massachusetts Compromise helped ensure ratification and the inclusion of a list of rights.

The Bill of Rights includes important rights such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and rights of the accused. It was passed in 1791, two years after the Constitution went into effect. Today, it is viewed as one of the most important foundational documents in United States history.