Delaware was the first state to ratify the United States Constitution. Its convention approved the document unanimously, 30–0, on December 7, 1787.
Delaware’s early ratification earned it the nickname “The First State.” Pennsylvania ratified five days later, followed by New Jersey and Georgia. The Constitution required approval by nine states before it could take effect, and New Hampshire became the ninth state on June 21, 1788.
This event came after the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War, but it belongs to the same founding-era story remembered by America250. The Declaration announced separation from Great Britain, while the Constitution established the framework for the new federal government.
Delaware was one of the original thirteen states. Rhode Island was the last of those states to ratify the Constitution, doing so on May 29, 1790, more than two years after Delaware.