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1787  June 1787  June 20, 1787: John Lansing, George Mason, and Luther Martin (Constitutional Convention) Full Text of Document  June 27-28,1787: Luther Martin (Constitutional Convention) Full Text of Document  September 1787  Sept 10, 1787: Objections of Edmund Randolph (Constitutional Convention) Full Text of Document  Sept 15, 1787: Objections of Elbridge Gerry (Constitutional Convention) Full Text of Document  Sept 17, 1787: Constitution Signed at Conclusion of Constitutional Convention (Constitutional Convention) Full Text of Document  Sept 17, 1787: Report of the Constitutional Convention (Constitutional Convention) Full Text of Document  Sept 18, 1787: North Carolina Delegates to Governor Richard Caswell (North Carolina) Full Text of Document  Sept 20, 1787: Confederation Congress reads Constitution (Confederation Congress) Full Text of Document  Sept 26-28, 1787: Confederation Congress debates Constitution (Confederation Congress) Full Text of Document  Sept 28, 1787: Pennsylvania calls for state convention (Pennsylvania) Full Text of Document  October 1787  Oct 1787: George Mason's Objections (Virginia) Full Text of Document  Oct 10, 1787: James Wilson Speech, Pennsylvania Packet (Pennsylvania) Federalist James Wilson _ s "State House Speech" was the first official, and most often cited, defence of the Constitution. Wilson directly confronted the objections of fellow Constitutional Convention delegates, Elbridge Gerry, George Mason, and Edmund Randolph who refused to sign the Constitution. He argued that a Bill of Rights, while necessary and salutary at the state level, was "superfluous and absurd" at the federal level of government. Antifederalists treated this speech as representative of the Federalist position. Full Text of Document  Oct 16, 1787: Richard Henry Lee to Edmund Randolph (New York) Antifederalist Richard Henry Lee, introducer of the Declaration of Independence, presumed author of the influential Federal Farmer essays and president of the Confederation Congress, suggested fourteen necessary and proper amendments to the proposed constitution, all designed "to protect the just rights and liberty of mankind from the silent powerful and ever active conspiracy of those who govern." Full Text of Document  Oct 25, 1787: Massachusetts calls for state convention (Massachusetts) Full Text of Document  Oct 26,1787: Georgia calls for state convention (Georgia) Full Text of Document  Oct 28, 1787: Remarks by James Wilson (Pennsylvania) Full Text of Document  Oct 31, 1787: Virginia calls for state convention (Virginia) Full Text of Document  November 1787  Nov 1, 1787: New Jersey calls for state convention (New Jersey) Full Text of Document  Nov 6, 1787: Pennsylvania elects 69 delegates (Pennsylvania) Full Text of Document  Nov 10, 1787: Delaware calls for state convention (Delaware) Full Text of Document  Nov 12, 1787: Connecticut elects 168 delegates (Connecticut) Full Text of Document  Nov 19, 1787: Massachusetts begins election of 355 delegates (Massachusetts) Full Text of Document  Nov 20, 1787: Pennsylvania ratifying convention convenes (Pennsylvania) Full Text of Document  Nov 22-26, 1787: Delaware elects 30 delegates (Delaware) Full Text of Document  Nov 24, 1787: James Wilson Speech, Pennsylvania Convention (Pennsylvania) Full Text of Document  Nov 27, 1787: Maryland calls for state convention (Maryland) Full Text of Document  Nov 27-Dec 1, 1787: New Jersey elects 38 delegates (New Jersey) Full Text of Document  Nov 28, 1787: John Smilie Speech, Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention (Pennsylvania) Full Text of Document  Nov 28, 1787: Robert Whitehall Speech, Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention (Pennsylvania) Full Text of Document  Nov 28, 1787: James Wilson Speech, Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention (Pennsylvania) Full Text of Document  Nov 29, 1787: James McHenry Speech to Maryland State House of Delegates (Duplicate?) (Maryland) Full Text of Document  Nov 29, 1787: Luther Martin Speech to Maryland State House of Delegates (Maryland) Full Text of Document  December 1787  Dec 4, 1787: James Wilson Speech, Pennsylvania Convention (Pennsylvania) Full Text of Document  Dec 4, 1787: Delaware ratifying convention convenes (Delaware) Full Text of Document  Dec 4-5, 1787: Georgia elects 26 delegates (Georgia) Full Text of Document  Dec 6, 1787: North Carolina calls for state convention (North Carolina) Full Text of Document  Dec 7, 1787: Delaware ratifies 30-0 (Delaware) Full Text of Document  Dec 11, 1787: New Jersey ratifying convention convenes (New Jersey) Full Text of Document  Dec 12, 1787: Pennsylvania ratifies 46-23 (Pennsylvania) Full Text of Document  Dec 14, 1787: New Hampshire calls for state convention (New Hampshire) Full Text of Document  Dec 18, 1787: New Jersey ratifies 38-0 (New Jersey) Full Text of Document  Dec 18, 1787: The Dissent of the Minority of the Convention of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania) Full Text of Document  Dec 21, 1787: Robert Yates and John Lansing, Reasons of Dissent (New York) New York Antifederalists John Lansing and Robert Yates informed Governor Clinton that there were two principles that motivated their early departure from the Constitutional Convention. "First. The limited and well-defined powers under which we acted, and which could not, on any possible construction, embrace an idea of such magnitude, as to assent to a general constitution, in subversion of that of the state. "Second. A conviction of the impracticability of establishing a general government, pervading every part of the United States, and extending essential benefits to all." Full Text of Document  Dec 25, 1787: Georgia ratifying convention meets (Georgia) Full Text of Document  Dec 31, 1787: Georgia ratifies 26-0 (Georgia) Full Text of Document  Dec 31, 1787: New Hampshire calls for state convention (New Hampshire) Full Text of Document  Dec 31, 1787: New Hampshire elects 110 delegates (New Hampshire) Full Text of Document  1788  January 1788  Jan 3, 1788: Connecticut ratifying convention convenes (Connecticut) Full Text of Document  Jan 4, 1788: James Wadsworth and Oliver Ellsworth Speeches in the Connecticut Convention (Connecticut) Full Text of Document  Jan 9, 1788: Connecticut ratifies 128-40 (Connecticut) Full Text of Document  Jan 9,1788: Massachusetts ratifies 187-168 with 9 proposed amendments (Massachusetts) Full Text of Document  January  Jan 9, 1788: Samuel Huntington, Oliver Wolcott, Sr., and Richard LawSpeeches in the Connecticut Convention (Connecticut) Full Text of Document  January 1788  Jan 17, 1788: Charles Turner Speech, Massachusetts Convention (Massachusetts) Full Text of Document  Jan 19, 1788: South Carolina calls for state convention (South Carolina) Full Text of Document  Jan 30, 2788: John Sullivan Speech to the New Hampshire General Court (New Hampshire) Full Text of Document  Jan 30, 1788: Massachusetts Compromise proposed (Massachusetts) Full Text of Document  Jan 31, 1788: Georgia ratifies 26-0 (Georgia) Full Text of Document  February 1788  Feb 1, 1788: New York calls for state convention (New York) Full Text of Document  Feb 6, 1788: Charles Turner Speech, Massachusetts Convention (Massachusetts) Full Text of Document  Feb 6, 1788: Massachusetts concludes election of 355 delegates (Massachusetts) Full Text of Document  Feb 7, 1788: Thomas Jefferson to Alexander Donald, Paris (Virginia) Although Thomas Jefferson was in Paris serving as Ambassador to France, he was informed and lobbied by both the Federalists and the Antifederalists. Here Jefferson explains, in effect, why he favors a combination of the Federalist and Antifederalist positions. Full Text of Document  Feb 13, 1788: New Hampshire ratifying convention, first session, convenes (New Hampshire) Full Text of Document  Feb 22, 1788: New Hampshire ratifying convention votes 56-51 for adjournment until June 18 (New Hampshire) Full Text of Document  Feb 22, 1788: The Adjournment of the New Hampshire Convention (New Hampshire) Full Text of Document  March 1788  Mar 3, 1788: Virginia meets to elect delegates (Virginia) Full Text of Document  Mar 24, 1788: Rhode Island rejects call for a state ratifying convention (Rhode Island) Full Text of Document  Mar 28-29, 1788: North Carolina elects 268 delegates (North Carolina) Full Text of Document  Mar 31, 1788: Virginia elects 168 delegates (Virginia) Full Text of Document  April 1788  Apr 7, 1788: Maryland elects 76 delegates (Maryland) Full Text of Document  Apr 11-12, 1788: South Carolina elects 222 delegates (South Carolina) Full Text of Document  April  Apr 16, 1788: Consider Arms, Malachi Maynard, and Samuel Field: Dissent to the Massachusetts Convention, Northampton Hampshire (New Hampshire) Full Text of Document  April 1788  Apr 21, 1788: Maryland ratifying convention convenes (Maryland) Full Text of Document  Apr 26, 1788: Maryland ratifies 63-11 (Maryland) Full Text of Document  Apr 29-May 3, 1788: New York elects 67 delegates (New York) Full Text of Document  May 1788  May 12, 1788: South Carolina ratifying convention convenes (South Carolina) Full Text of Document  May 23, 1788: South Carolina ratifies 149-73 (South Carolina) Full Text of Document  June 1788  June 2, 1788: Virginia ratifying convention convenes (Virginia) Full Text of Document  June 4-5, 1788: Patrick Henry, Virginia Ratifying Convention (Virginia) Full Text of Document  June 4, 1788: George Mason Speech, Virginia Ratifying Convention (Virginia) Full Text of Document  June 17, 1788: New York ratifying convention convenes (New York) Full Text of Document  June 18, 1788: Virginia Ratifying Convention (Virginia) Full Text of Document  June 18, 1787: New Hampshire ratifying convention, second session, convenes (New Hampshire) Full Text of Document  June 20, 1788: Massachusetts ratifying convention convenes (New York) Full Text of Document  June 2, 1788: Melancton Smith Speech, New York Ratifying Convention (New York) Full Text of Document  June 12, 1788: Edmund Pendleton Speech, Virginia Ratifying Convention (Virginia) Full Text of Document  Jun 20, 1788: Melancton Smith, New York Ratifying Convention (New York) Full Text of Document  June 21, 1788: New Hampshire ratifies 57-47 with 12 proposed amendments (New Hampshire) Full Text of Document  June 21, 1788: Alexander Hamilton Speech, New York Ratifying Convention (New York) Full Text of Document  June 25, 1788: Virginia ratifies 89-79 with 20 proposed amendments (Virginia) Full Text of Document  June 27, 1788: Virginia Ratifying Convention Amendment Proposals (Virginia) Full Text of Document  July 1788  July 2, 1788: Congress accepts ratification of Constitution (Confederation Congress) Full Text of Document  July 21, 1788: North Carolina ratifying convention convenes (North Carolina) Full Text of Document  July 25, 1788: New York rejects conditional ratification (New York) Full Text of Document  July 26, 1788: New York ratifies 30-27 with 31 proposed amendments (New York) Full Text of Document  August 1788  Aug 2, 1788: North Carolina votes 184-84 against ratification (North Carolina) Full Text of Document  1789  November 1789  Nov 16, 1789: North Carolina ratifying convention convenes (North Carolina) Full Text of Document  Nov 21, 1789: North Carolina ratifies 194-77 (North Carolina) Full Text of Document  1790  May 1789  May 26, 1790: Rhode Island ratifying convention convenes (Rhode Island) Full Text of Document  May 29, 1790: Rhode Island ratifies 34-32 (Rhode Island) Full Text of Document