Delaware was the first state to ratify the United States Constitution.
Delaware’s ratifying convention approved the Constitution unanimously on December 7, 1787, making it the first of the 13 states to accept the new governing document. The state’s quick decision earned it the nickname “The First State,” a title officially adopted by the Delaware General Assembly in 2002.
The Constitution required ratification by conventions in at least nine states before it could take effect. Pennsylvania followed Delaware five days later, and New Jersey became the third state to ratify. The process was politically contentious, with Federalists supporting the Constitution and Anti-Federalists warning that it gave the national government too much power.
Delaware’s first-place ratification did not mean that the Constitution immediately governed the whole country. North Carolina and Rhode Island held out until after the new federal government had begun operating, with Rhode Island becoming the final state to ratify in 1790.