Delaware's Ratification of the U.S. Constitution
1787
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This is the certificate of the Delaware ratification of the Constitution in 1787. Once the Constitution was written and signed by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention, it was sent to the 13 states for approval.
Delaware was the first state to ratify it, on December 7, 1787, by a unanimous vote, 30 - 0. It took 10 months for the first nine states to approve the Constitution. This endorsed ratification of the Constitution by the Delaware convention includes the names of the state deputies, probably written by a clerk. The signature of the President of Delaware's convention, Thomas Collins, attests to the validity of the document, which also carries the state seal in its left margin.
Delaware's speediness thwarted Pennsylvania's attempt to be first to ratify in the hope of securing the seat of the National Government in Pennsylvania. The Constitution went into effect in 1788, after three-fourths of the original 13 states had ratified it.
Text adapted from "Ratification of the Constitution" in the September 1987 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
Delaware was the first state to ratify it, on December 7, 1787, by a unanimous vote, 30 - 0. It took 10 months for the first nine states to approve the Constitution. This endorsed ratification of the Constitution by the Delaware convention includes the names of the state deputies, probably written by a clerk. The signature of the President of Delaware's convention, Thomas Collins, attests to the validity of the document, which also carries the state seal in its left margin.
Delaware's speediness thwarted Pennsylvania's attempt to be first to ratify in the hope of securing the seat of the National Government in Pennsylvania. The Constitution went into effect in 1788, after three-fourths of the original 13 states had ratified it.
Text adapted from "Ratification of the Constitution" in the September 1987 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention.
National Archives Identifier: 1503374
Full Citation: Delaware's Ratification of the U.S. Constitution; 1787; Official Records of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, 1785 - 1787; Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention, Record Group 360; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/delawares-ratification-us-constitution, September 20, 2024]Activities that use this document
- La Constitución en Acción
Created by the National Archives Education Team - The Constitution at Work
Created by the National Archives Education Team
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