Smaller states, like Delaware, favored the Constitution. Equal representation in the Senate would give them a degree of equality with the larger states, and a strong national government with an army at its command would be better able to defend them than their state militias could. Larger states, however, had significant power to lose. They did not believe they needed the federal government to defend them and disliked the prospect of having to provide tax money to support the new government.
Thus, from the very beginning, the supporters of the Constitution feared that New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia would refuse to ratify it. That would mean all nine of the remaining states would have to, and Rhode Island, the smallest state, was unlikely to do so. It had not even sent delegates to the convention in Philadelphia.
And even if it joined the other states in ratifying the document and the requisite nine votes were cast, the new nation would not be secure without its largest, wealthiest, and most populous states as members of the union. On the question of ratification, citizens quickly separated into two groups: Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The Federalists supported it. They tended to be among the elite members of society—wealthy and well-educated landowners, businessmen, and former military commanders who believed a strong government would be better for both national defense and economic growth.
A national currency, which the federal government had the power to create, would ease business transactions. The ability of the federal government to regulate trade and place tariffs on imports would protect merchants from foreign competition. Furthermore, the power to collect taxes would allow the national government to fund internal improvements like roads, which would also help businessmen.
Support for the Federalists was especially strong in New England. Opponents of ratification were called Anti-Federalists. Anti-Federalists feared the power of the national government and believed state legislatures, with which they had more contact, could better protect their freedoms. Related to these concerns were fears that the strong central government Federalists advocated for would levy taxes on farmers and planters, who lacked the hard currency needed to pay them.
Many also believed Congress would impose tariffs on foreign imports that would make American agricultural products less welcome in Europe and in European colonies in the western hemisphere. For these reasons, Anti-Federalist sentiment was especially strong in the South. Some Anti-Federalists also believed that the large federal republic that the Constitution would create could not work as intended.
Americans had long believed that virtue was necessary in a nation where people governed themselves i. In small republics, similarities among members of the community would naturally lead them to the same positions and make it easier for those in power to understand the needs of their neighbors. In a larger republic, one that encompassed nearly the entire Eastern Seaboard and ran west to the Appalachian Mountains, people would lack such a strong commonality of interests.
Likewise, Anti-Federalists argued, the diversity of religion tolerated by the Constitution would prevent the formation of a political community with shared values and interests. The Constitution contained no provisions for government support of churches or of religious education, and Article VI explicitly forbade the use of religious tests to determine eligibility for public office.
It is difficult to determine how many people were Federalists and how many were Anti-Federalists in The Federalists won the day, but they may not have been in the majority. First, the Federalist position tended to win support among businessmen, large farmers, and, in the South, plantation owners. These people tended to live along the Eastern Seaboard.
In , most of the states were divided into voting districts in a manner that gave more votes to the eastern part of the state than to the western part. Small settlements may also have lacked the funds to send delegates to the convention. In all the states, educated men authored pamphlets and published essays and cartoons arguing either for or against ratification.
Although many writers supported each position, it is the Federalist essays that are now best known. The arguments these authors put forth, along with explicit guarantees that amendments would be added to protect individual liberties, helped to sway delegates to ratification conventions in many states. Figure 1. Less than a month later, on February 6, , Massachusetts became the sixth member of the newly formed federal union b.
For obvious reasons, smaller, less populous states favored the Constitution and the protection of a strong federal government.
Delaware and New Jersey ratified the document within a few months after it was sent to them for approval in Connecticut ratified it early in Some of the larger states, such as Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, also voted in favor of the new government.
New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution in the summer of Figure 2. This timeline shows the order in which states ratified the new Constitution. Small states that would benefit from the protection of a larger union ratified the Constitution fairly quickly, such as Delaware and Connecticut.
Larger, more populous states like Virginia and New York took longer. The last state to ratify was Rhode Island, a state that had always proven reluctant to act alongside the others. Although the Constitution went into effect following ratification by New Hampshire, four states still remained outside the newly formed union. Some states voiced opposition to the Constitution on the grounds that it did not provide protection for rights such as freedom of speech, religion, and press.
However, the terms of the Massachusetts Compromise reached in February stipulated that amendments to that effect—what became the Bill of Rights—would be immediately proposed. After ratification, Congress set dates for the first federal elections and the official implementation of the Constitution. Elections were set to take place from Monday, December 15, , to Saturday, January 10, , and the new government was set to begin on March 4, Congress was also restructured to reflect the system of representation created by the Connecticut Compromise at the Constitutional Convention.
The Constitution, however, was still evolving. Madison introduced 17 amendments to the Constitution born from the Massachusetts Compromise, of which Congress adopted twelve on September 25, , to send forth to the states for ratification.
Ten of those amendments, known as the Bill of Rights , were ratified on December 15, The controversial U. Brigadier General John J.
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