Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 7, 1787.
Article Seven required conventions in the thirteen states and specified that nine ratifications would make the Constitution effective. Delaware’s convention approved the document unanimously, giving the state its traditional nickname, “The First State.”
Pennsylvania followed two days later, while New Jersey and Georgia ratified before the end of 1787. New Hampshire became the crucial ninth state on June 21, 1788, placing the Constitution into operation. The remaining original states ratified later.
Rhode Island was the last of the thirteen states to approve the Constitution, doing so on May 29, 1790. Delaware’s early ratification did not by itself activate the Constitution, but it established the first state-level approval in the process that created the federal government celebrated in America250.