Ratification of the Constitution in the United States

Introduction to the Ratification of the Constitution

Ratification
The process set out in the Constitution for its ratification provided for much popular debate in the states. The Constitution would take effect once it had been ratified by nine of the thirteen state legislatures — unanimity was not required. During the debate over the Constitution, two factions emerged: the Federalists, who supported adoption, and the Anti-Federalists, who
opposed it.

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay set out an eloquent defense of the new Constitution in what came to be called the Federalist Papers. Published anonymously in the newspapers The Independent Journal and The New York Packet under the name Publius between October 1787 and August 1788, the 85 articles that comprise the Federalist Papers remain to this day an invaluable resource for understanding some of the framers’ intentions for the Constitution. The most famous of the articles are No. 10, which warns of the dangers of factions and advocates a large republic, and No. 51, which explains the structure of the Constitution, its checks and balances, and how it protects the rights of the people.

The states proceeded to begin ratification, with some debating more intensely than others. Delaware was the first state to ratify, on December 7, 1787. After New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify, on June 22, 1788, the Confederation Congress established March 9, 1789, as the date to begin operating under the Constitution. By this time, all the states except North Carolina and Rhode Island had ratified — the Ocean State was the last to ratify on May 29, 1790.

According to the Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, plans for a convention to revise the articles of confederation were in fact a subterfuge, because the delegates in Philadelphia convened in May 1787 with no serious thought whatever of an attempt to keep that instrument in force.

Time Required in the Ratifications of the Constitution

• 1st – 10th Amendment (about Bill of Rights ) (Year: 1791 ) (Time required for Ratification: 2 years, 2 months, 20 days )
• 11th Amendment (about Immunity of States from certain lawsuits ) (Year: 1795 ) (Time required for Ratification: 11 months, 3 days )
• 12th Amendment (about Changes In electoral college procedures ) (Year: 1804 ) (Time required for Ratification: 6 months, 6 days )
• 13th Amendment (about Abolition of slavery ) (Year: 1865 ) (Time required for Ratification: 10 months, 8 days )
• 14th Amendment (about Citizenship, due process, equal protection ) (Year: 1868 ) (Time required for Ratification: 2 months, 26 days )
• 15th Amendment (about No denial of vote because of race, color, or previous enslaverment ) (Year: 1870 ) (Time required for Ratification: 11 months, 8 days )
• 16th Amendment (about Power of Congress to tax incomes ) (Year: 1913 ) (Time required for Ratification: 3 years, 6 months, 22 days )
• 17th Amendment (about Popular election of U.S Senators ) (Year: 1913 ) (Time required for Ratification: 10 months, 26 days )
• 18th Amendment (about Prohibition of alcohol ) (Year: 1919 ) (Time required for Ratification: 1 year, 29 days )
• 19th Amendment (about Woman suffrage ) (Year: 1920 ) (Time required for Ratification: 1 year, 2 months, 14 days )
• 20th Amendment (about Change of dates for start of presidential and Congressional terms ) (Year: 1933 ) (Time required for Ratification: 10 months, 21 days )
• 21st Amendment (about Repeal of Prohibition(18 th Amendment) ) (Year: 1933 ) (Time required for Ratification: 9 months, 15 days )
• 22nd Amendment (about Limit on presidential terms ) (Year: 1951 ) (Time required for Ratification: 3 years, 11 months, 6 days )
• 23rd Amendment (about District of Columbia vote in presidential elections ) (Year: 1961 ) (Time required for Ratification: 9 months, 13 days )
• 24th Amendment (about Ban of tax payment as voter qualification ) (Year: 1964 ) (Time required for Ratification: 1 year, 4 months, 27 days )
• 25th Amendment (about Presidential succession, vice presidential vacancy, and presidential disability ) (Year: 1967 ) (Time required for Ratification: 1 year, 7 months, 4 days )
• 26th Amendment (about Voting age of 18 ) (Year: 1971 ) (Time required for Ratification: 3 months, 8 days )
• 27th Amendment (about Congressional pay ) (Year: 1992 ) (Time required for Ratification: 202 years, 7 months, 12 days )