Article Seven of the United States Constitution sets the process by which the Constitution was ratified and took effect.
The article specified that conventions in nine of the 13 states had to ratify the document for it to become effective among the states approving it. This was a major departure from the Articles of Confederation, which required unanimous agreement for significant changes.
Delaware became the first state to ratify, on December 7, 1787. New Hampshire became the ninth on June 21, 1788, providing the number Article Seven required. The Constitution therefore entered into operation before every original state had approved it.
Article Seven names the nine-state threshold but does not itself list a detailed timetable for the conventions. Rhode Island eventually became the 13th and final original state to ratify, on May 29, 1790. Article Seven is also notable because the Constitution’s original text ends with its ratification clause, followed by the signatures from the Constitutional Convention.