Malcolm Rivera
The United States Constitution was last ratified on May 29, 1790, by Rhode Island, the last of the 13 original states to do so. Since then, 27 amendments to the Constitution have been ratified, the most recent being the Twenty-seventh Amendment in 1992. More than 11,000 amendments have been proposed.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of last ratification | 29 May 1790 |
| State of last ratification | Rhode Island |
| Date of first ratification | 21 June 1788 |
| State of first ratification | New Hampshire |
| Date of first 10 amendments ratification | 15 December 1791 |
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What You'll Learn
- The last state to ratify the Constitution was Rhode Island, on May 29, 1790
- The first 10 amendments to the Constitution were ratified in 1791
- The 27th Amendment was ratified in 1992
- More than 11,000 amendments have been proposed, but only 27 have been ratified
- The validity of state ratifications of a constitutional amendment is a political matter, not a judicial one
The last state to ratify the Constitution was Rhode Island, on May 29, 1790
Since then, more than 11,000 amendments to the Constitution of the United States have been proposed, but only 27 have been ratified. The first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791. The 1789 Joint Resolution of Congress proposing these amendments is on display in the National Archives' Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom.
The New Constitution: Ratification Required
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The first 10 amendments to the Constitution were ratified in 1791
The last time the Constitution was ratified was on 29 May 1790, when Rhode Island became the last state to ratify it.
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791. The amendments include the right to keep and bear arms, and the right to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and the right to peaceably assemble and petition the government.
The 1789 Joint Resolution of Congress proposing these amendments is on display in the National Archives' Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom.
In Coleman v Miller, the court ruled that the validity of state ratifications of a constitutional amendment is a political matter, and thus not properly assigned to the judiciary.
Rhode Island's Defiance: A Constitutional Conundrum
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The 27th Amendment was ratified in 1992
The last time the Constitution was ratified was in 1790. However, the 27th Amendment was ratified in 1992, 202 years after it was first proposed. This amendment states that:
> No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
In other words, members of the United States Congress are not allowed to raise or lower their salaries mid-term. The 27th Amendment was ratified by three-fourths of the states, with Michigan becoming the 38th state to ratify it. Despite being the most recent addition to the Constitution, it is among the first proposed amendments to exist in American history.
John Adams' Stance on Ratifying the Constitution
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More than 11,000 amendments have been proposed, but only 27 have been ratified
The US Constitution was last ratified by Rhode Island on 29 May 1790.
Since then, more than 11,000 amendments to the Constitution have been proposed, but only 27 have been ratified. The first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791. The 1789 Joint Resolution of Congress proposing these amendments is on display in the National Archives' Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom. The Bill of Rights states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The bar is high for a proposed amendment to make it to the ratification process. Amendments can be proposed in two ways: in Congress or by a national convention assembled at the request of two-thirds of the state legislatures. The national convention approach has been attempted twice but has never been successful, so the successful amendments have all originated in Congress.
The process for amending the US Constitution is a difficult one, and only a tiny percentage of amendments ultimately pass and are ratified.
Texas Constitution: Ratification and Its Legacy
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The validity of state ratifications of a constitutional amendment is a political matter, not a judicial one
The US Constitution was last ratified in 1790, when Rhode Island became the final state to ratify it. The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791.
Article V of the Constitution speaks only to the states' power to ratify an amendment, not to the power to rescind a ratification. All precedents concerning state rescissions of ratifications indicate that such actions are not valid. The mode of ratification is determined by Congress, and in neither of these two processes is a vote by the electorate applicable to the ratification of a constitutional amendment.
The three-state strategy for ERA ratification was developed following the 1992 ratification of the "Madison Amendment" as the 27th Amendment to the Constitution after a ratification period of 203 years. This was accepted, and some ERA advocates contended that the ERA's ratification period of just over two decades would meet the "reasonable" and "sufficiently contemporaneous" standards required by Supreme Court decisions in 1921 and 1939.
Constitution Ratification: Connecticut, Georgia, and Their Timelines
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution was last ratified on May 29, 1790, by Rhode Island.
27 amendments have been ratified, with more than 11,000 proposed.
The first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791.
The most recent amendment is the Twenty-seventh Amendment, which was ratified in 1992.
