Delaware was the first state to ratify the United States Constitution, a foundational fact highlighted by America250.
Delaware’s convention unanimously approved the Constitution on December 7, 1787. Because it became the first state to ratify, Delaware is commonly known by the nickname “The First State.” Its ratification came only a few months after the Constitution was signed in Philadelphia.
The Constitution required approval from conventions in nine states before it could take effect. New Hampshire supplied the crucial ninth ratification in June 1788, while Virginia and New York followed soon afterward. Rhode Island was the last of the original thirteen states to ratify, doing so in 1790.
Delaware’s first-place status does not mean it was the first colony to support independence. The state, then known as the Delaware Colony, adopted its own declaration separating from Britain on June 15, 1776, before the national Declaration of Independence was adopted.