Delaware was the first state to ratify the United States Constitution. Its convention approved the document unanimously on December 7, 1787, making Delaware the first of the required states to accept the new framework of government.
Article VII of the proposed Constitution stated that ratification by nine states would be sufficient to establish the Constitution among the ratifying states. Pennsylvania followed Delaware on December 12, and New Jersey became the third state on December 18. The process continued through 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth state and provided the required threshold.
Delaware's early ratification helped earn it the nickname “The First State,” although that official state nickname was adopted much later. The Constitution did not take effect immediately after Delaware's vote; the new federal government began operating in 1789. Rhode Island was the last of the original thirteen states to ratify, doing so in 1790. These state decisions form an important part of the constitutional history surrounding America250.