New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the United States Constitution in 1788.
New Hampshire approved the Constitution on June 21, 1788. Article VII required ratification by conventions in nine states before the Constitution could establish the new federal government, making New Hampshire’s vote the constitutional threshold.
The first state to ratify was Delaware, which approved the document on December 7, 1787. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, and South Carolina followed before New Hampshire reached the required ninth position.
Ratification did not mean that every state immediately accepted the Constitution. Virginia and New York ratified later in 1788, while North Carolina and Rhode Island waited until 1789 and 1790. The federal government began operating in 1789, after the Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation as the national framework.