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Timeline of the Ratification of the Constitution

by Gordon Lloyd

"In Doors" Events

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 1787
 June 1787
 September 1787
 Sept 10, 1787: Objections of Edmund Randolph (Constitutional Convention)
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 Sept 15, 1787: Objections of Elbridge Gerry (Constitutional Convention)
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 Sept 17, 1787: Constitution Signed at Conclusion of Constitutional Convention (Constitutional Convention)
 Sept 17, 1787: Report of the Constitutional Convention (Constitutional Convention)
 Sept 18, 1787: North Carolina Delegates to Governor Richard Caswell (North Carolina)
 Sept 20, 1787: Confederation Congress reads Constitution (Confederation Congress)
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 Sept 26-28, 1787: Confederation Congress debates Constitution (Confederation Congress)
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 Sept 28, 1787: Pennsylvania calls for state convention (Pennsylvania)
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 October 1787
 Oct 1787: George Mason's Objections (Virginia)
 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)
 Oct 26,1787: Georgia calls for state convention (Georgia)
 Oct 28, 1787: Remarks by James Wilson (Pennsylvania)
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 Oct 31, 1787: Virginia calls for state convention (Virginia)
 November 1787
 Nov 1, 1787: New Jersey calls for state convention (New Jersey)
 Nov 6, 1787: Pennsylvania elects 69 delegates (Pennsylvania)
 Nov 10, 1787: Delaware calls for state convention (Delaware)
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 Nov 12, 1787: Connecticut elects 168 delegates (Connecticut)
 Nov 19, 1787: Massachusetts begins election of 355 delegates (Massachusetts)
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 Nov 20, 1787: Pennsylvania ratifying convention convenes (Pennsylvania)
 Nov 22-26, 1787: Delaware elects 30 delegates (Delaware)
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 Nov 24, 1787: James Wilson Speech, Pennsylvania Convention (Pennsylvania)
 Nov 27, 1787: Maryland calls for state convention (Maryland)
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 Nov 27-Dec 1, 1787: New Jersey elects 38 delegates (New Jersey)
 Nov 28, 1787: John Smilie Speech, Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention (Pennsylvania)
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 Nov 28, 1787: Robert Whitehall Speech, Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention (Pennsylvania)
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 Nov 28, 1787: James Wilson Speech, Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention (Pennsylvania)
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 Nov 29, 1787: James McHenry Speech to Maryland State House of Delegates (Duplicate?) (Maryland)
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 Nov 29, 1787: Luther Martin Speech to Maryland State House of Delegates (Maryland)
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 December 1787
 Dec 4, 1787: James Wilson Speech, Pennsylvania Convention (Pennsylvania)
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 Dec 4, 1787: Delaware ratifying convention convenes (Delaware)
 Dec 4-5, 1787: Georgia elects 26 delegates (Georgia)
 Dec 6, 1787: North Carolina calls for state convention (North Carolina)
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 Dec 7, 1787: Delaware ratifies 30-0 (Delaware)
 Dec 11, 1787: New Jersey ratifying convention convenes (New Jersey)
 Dec 12, 1787: Pennsylvania ratifies 46-23 (Pennsylvania)
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 Dec 14, 1787: New Hampshire calls for state convention (New Hampshire)
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 Dec 18, 1787: New Jersey ratifies 38-0 (New Jersey)
 Dec 18, 1787: The Dissent of the Minority of the Convention of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania)
 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)
 Dec 31, 1787: Georgia ratifies 26-0 (Georgia)
 Dec 31, 1787: New Hampshire calls for state convention (New Hampshire)
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 Dec 31, 1787: New Hampshire elects 110 delegates (New Hampshire)
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 1788
 January 1788
 Jan 3, 1788: Connecticut ratifying convention convenes (Connecticut)
 Jan 4, 1788: James Wadsworth and Oliver Ellsworth Speeches in the Connecticut Convention (Connecticut)
 Jan 9, 1788: Connecticut ratifies 128-40 (Connecticut)
 Jan 9,1788: Massachusetts concludes election of 355 delegates (Massachusetts)
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 Jan 9, 1788: Samuel Huntington, Oliver Wolcott, Sr., and Richard Law: Speeches in the Connecticut Convention (Connecticut)
 Jan 17, 1788: Charles Turner Speech, Massachusetts Convention (Massachusetts)
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 Jan 19, 1788: South Carolina calls for state convention (South Carolina)
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 Jan 30, 2788: John Sullivan Speech to the New Hampshire General Court (New Hampshire)
 Jan 30, 1788: Massachusetts Compromise proposed (Massachusetts)
 Jan 31, 1788: Georgia ratifies 26-0 (Georgia)
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 February 1788
 Feb 1, 1788: New York calls for state convention (New York)
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 Feb 6, 1788: Charles Turner Speech, Massachusetts Convention (Massachusetts)
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 Feb 6, 1788: Massachusetts ratifies 187-168 with 9 proposed amendments (Massachusetts)
 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)
 Feb 22, 1788: New Hampshire ratifying convention votes 56-51 for adjournment until June 18 (New Hampshire)
 Feb 22, 1788: The Adjournment of the New Hampshire Convention (New Hampshire)
 March 1788
 April 1788
 May 1788
 June 1788
 June 2, 1788: Virginia ratifying convention convenes (Virginia)
 June 2, 1788: Melancton Smith Speech, New York Ratifying Convention (New York)
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 June 4-5, 1788: Patrick Henry, Virginia Ratifying Convention (Virginia)
 June 4, 1788: George Mason Speech, Virginia Ratifying Convention (Virginia)
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 June 12, 1788: Edmund Pendleton Speech, Virginia Ratifying Convention (Virginia)
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 June 17, 1788: New York ratifying convention convenes (New York)
 June 18, 1788: Virginia Ratifying Convention (Virginia)
 June 18, 1787: New Hampshire ratifying convention, second session, convenes (New Hampshire)
 June 20, 1788: New York ratifying convention convenes (New York)
 June 20, 1788: Melancton Smith, New York Ratifying Convention (New York)
 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)
 June 21, 1788: New Hampshire ratifies 57-47 with 12 proposed amendments (New Hampshire)
 June 27, 1788: Virginia Ratifying Convention Amendment Proposals (Virginia)
 July 1788
 August 1788
 1789
 1790


 

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