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Article Seven of the United States Constitution

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Article Seven of the United States Constitution describes the process by which the entire document is to be ratified and take effect.

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
This process posed a danger: if nine states ratified, but not all thirteen, the states would be split among two possibly incontiguous countries. When New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify in 1788, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island remained: the former two were the most populous and most wealthy American states, respectively. Congress, as established under the Articles of Confederation, chose March 4, 1789 as the day "for commencing proceedings under the Constitution." Virginia and New York ratified the constitution before that time; North Carolina and Rhode Island ratified later, after the new government took power in the remaining eleven states.

The Constitution was ratified by the states in the following order:

  Date State Votes % Approval
Yea Nay
1

December 7, 1787

Delaware 30 0 100%
2

December 12, 1787

Pennsylvania 46 23 67%
3

December 18, 1787

New Jersey 38 0 100%
4

January 2, 1788

Georgia 26 0 100%
5

January 9, 1788

Connecticut 128 40 76%
6

February 6, 1788

Massachusetts 187 168 53%
7

April 28, 1788

Maryland 63 11 85%
8

May 23, 1788

South Carolina 149 73 67%
9

June 21, 1788

New Hampshire 57 47 55%
10

June 25, 1788

Virginia 89 79 53%
11

July 26, 1788

New York 30 27 53%
12

November 21, 1789

North Carolina 194 77 72%
13

May 29, 1790

Rhode Island 34 32 52%

See for the text of the Article.

External links

  United States Constitution
Original text: Preamble | Article 1 | Article 2 | Article 3 | Article 4 | Article 5 | Article 6 | Article 7

Amendments: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27


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