New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, putting it into effect during the founding story remembered by America250.
New Hampshire approved the Constitution on June 21, 1788, by a vote of 57–47. Article Seven required ratification by nine of the thirteen states, so New Hampshire’s decision supplied the threshold specified in the document.
The ninth ratification established the Constitution as the governing framework for the states that had approved it, although several states had not yet joined the new constitutional system. Virginia ratified four days later, and New York followed in July. North Carolina and Rhode Island waited still longer.
New Hampshire was not the first state to ratify; Delaware held that distinction. The significance of New Hampshire’s action was numerical: it was the ninth approval required by Article Seven. That distinction makes the state an important part of the Constitution’s transition from proposal to operation.