Rhode Island was the last of the original 13 states to ratify the U.S. Constitution before America250.
Rhode Island ratified the Constitution on May 29, 1790, nearly two years after New Hampshire supplied the ninth approval needed to put the Constitution into effect. The state’s convention passed ratification by a narrow vote of 34–32.
Rhode Island had opposed a stronger central government and had not sent delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Critics feared federal taxation, disliked the proposed structure of government, and defended the state’s own political and economic arrangements. The state’s resistance became a prominent episode in the ratification debate.
Rhode Island’s late decision was influenced by pressure from the other states. The United States Senate passed a bill proposing a trade ban against Rhode Island, though the House did not enact it before the state ratified. Its final approval completed the original states’ constitutional ratification sequence.