
The US Constitution was ratified on 21 June 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth and final state needed to ratify the document. The Constitution was signed by 38 or 39 of the 41 or 42 delegates present at the conclusion of the convention on 17 September 1787, and was then submitted to the states for ratification. The first Congress of the United States adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution on 25 September 1789, and the Bill of Rights was ratified on 15 December 1791.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of ratification | June 21, 1788 |
| State to ratify the Constitution | New Hampshire |
| Number of states to ratify the Constitution | 9 |
| Date of adoption of amendments | September 25, 1789 |
| Number of amendments adopted | 12 |
| Date of ratification of the Bill of Rights | December 15, 1791 |
| Date all states ratified the Constitution | May 29, 1790 |
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What You'll Learn
- The final draft of the US Constitution was read on 17 September 1787
- The US Constitution was ratified on 21 June 1788
- The first Congress of the United States adopted 12 amendments to the US Constitution on 25 September 1789
- The Bill of Rights was ratified on 15 December 1791
- The US Constitution was not ratified by all states until 29 May 1790

The final draft of the US Constitution was read on 17 September 1787
On 17 September 1787, the final draft of the US Constitution was read to the 42 delegates still at the convention. Of the 42 men present, 39 affixed their signatures to the document and notified the Confederation Congress that their work was finished. The Congress, in turn, submitted the document to the states for ratification, where more argument, debate, and compromise would take place. The state of Delaware was the first to ratify the Constitution.
The Constitution was signed after three months of debate moderated by convention president George Washington. It created a strong federal government with an intricate system of checks and balances. The new Constitution was designed to address the defects in the post-Revolutionary War Articles of Confederation, such as the lack of central authority over foreign and domestic commerce.
On 21 June 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth and last necessary state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, thereby making the document the law of the land. The Constitution was not ratified by all states until 29 May 1790, when Rhode Island finally approved the document.
On 25 September 1789, the first Congress of the United States adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution, which were sent to the states for ratification. Ten of those amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified on 15 December 1791.
The Constitution's Ratification: A Historical Perspective
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The US Constitution was ratified on 21 June 1788
The final draft of the new Constitution was read to 42 delegates on 17 September 1787. Of the 42 men present, 39 signed the document and notified the Confederation Congress that their work was finished. Congress then submitted the document to the states for ratification, where more argument, debate, and compromise would take place. The state of Delaware was the first to ratify the Constitution.
The Constitution was not ratified by all states until 29 May 1790, when Rhode Island finally approved the document. The Bill of Rights was not ratified to become part of the Constitution until the end of the following year, on 15 December 1791.
The Constitution's Ratification: A Group Effort
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The first Congress of the United States adopted 12 amendments to the US Constitution on 25 September 1789
The Constitution was not ratified by all states until 29 May 1790, when Rhode Island finally approved the document. The Bill of Rights, which consisted of 10 of the 12 amendments adopted by Congress, was ratified on 15 December 1791.
The US Constitution was created to address defects in the post-Revolutionary War Articles of Confederation, such as the lack of a central authority over foreign and domestic commerce. The new Constitution established a strong federal government with an intricate system of checks and balances.
The Long Road to Ratifying the Constitution
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The Bill of Rights was ratified on 15 December 1791
The US Constitution was ratified on 21 June 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth and final state to approve the document.
The Constitution was signed by 38 or 39 of the 41 or 42 delegates present at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on 17 September 1787. The document was then submitted to the states for ratification.
The Bill of Rights, which comprised ten of the twelve amendments to the Constitution that were adopted by Congress on 25 September 1789, was ratified on 15 December 1791. The Bill of Rights did not become part of the Constitution until the end of the following year, when Rhode Island approved the document on 29 May 1790, becoming the final state to ratify the Constitution.
The Constitution: A Unanimous Ratification?
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The US Constitution was not ratified by all states until 29 May 1790
The final draft of the new Constitution was read to the 42 delegates still at the convention on 17 September 1787. Of the 42 men present, 39 affixed their signatures to the document and notified the Confederation Congress that their work was finished. The Congress, in turn, submitted the document to the states for ratification, where more argument, debate, and compromise would take place. The state of Delaware was the first to ratify the Constitution.
On 21 June 1788, just nine months after the state ratification process had begun, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, and the Constitution went into effect. However, other states, especially Massachusetts, opposed the document, as it failed to reserve undelegated powers to the states and lacked constitutional protection of basic political rights, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press. In February 1788, a compromise was reached under which Massachusetts and other states would agree to ratify the document with the assurance that amendments would be immediately proposed. The Constitution was thus narrowly ratified in Massachusetts, followed by Maryland and South Carolina. On 21 June 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document, and it was subsequently agreed that government under the U.S. Constitution would begin on 4 March 1789. In June, Virginia ratified the Constitution, followed by New York in July.
The Constitution's Ratification: Supermajority or Not?
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth and final state necessary to ratify the document.
Nine states were required to ratify the Constitution.
The first Congress of the United States was held on September 25, 1789, when 12 amendments to the Constitution were adopted.

























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