Rhode Island refused to send delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
The convention met in Philadelphia to address problems in the Articles of Confederation, the first governing framework of the United States. Twelve of the thirteen states sent delegates, but Rhode Island declined to participate. Its leaders were wary of a stronger central government and opposed the convention’s plans to replace or substantially revise the existing system.
Rhode Island later became the last of the original thirteen states to ratify the Constitution, doing so in 1790. Its absence from the convention did not prevent the other states from drafting and signing the document, but it illustrates how divided Americans were over federal power.
The state is easy to confuse with Delaware, New Jersey, or Georgia because all were small or early states represented at the convention. Delaware’s delegates attended, and Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution. Rhode Island’s refusal is the distinctive fact connected with the convention’s 12-state representation.