Rhode Island was the last of the original 13 states to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Its ratification occurred on May 29, 1790, nearly two years after the document took effect.
Rhode Island had boycotted the 1787 Constitutional Convention and initially resisted joining the new constitutional system. Many residents feared stronger federal authority, direct taxation, and restrictions on the state’s use of paper money.
The state’s ratifying convention approved the Constitution by a narrow vote of 34 to 32. Rhode Island also requested constitutional changes, including protections that later appeared in the Bill of Rights.
The federal government had threatened a trade embargo against Rhode Island before the state finally ratified. Its decision completed the original states’ ratification process, although Vermont later joined the Union as a separate state in 1791.