New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, making it effective during the era remembered by America250.
New Hampshire approved the Constitution on June 21, 1788. Its ratification supplied the ninth approval required by Article Seven, which stated that the Constitution would take effect among the ratifying states once nine conventions agreed.
The vote was close: 57 delegates supported ratification and 47 opposed it. The decision followed an earlier convention that had postponed action while supporters worked to address concerns about federal power and individual rights.
New Hampshire was not the first state to ratify; Delaware led the sequence in December 1787. Nor was New Hampshire the last: Rhode Island became the thirteenth and final original state to ratify, in 1790.