Ratification
Article VII set the terms for bringing the Constitution to life: approval by conventions in nine of the thirteen states. Routing ratificationFinal approval that gives a measure legal force: states ratify constitutional amendments (3/4 required); the Senate consents to treaties (2/3).Read the full definition (opens a new tab) through special conventions elected by the people, rather than the state legislatures whose power the document reduced, grounded the Constitution's authority directly in popular consent. Delaware ratified first, on December 7, 1787; New Hampshire's ratification on June 21, 1788 was the ninth that put the Constitution into effect.
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven
One sentence that quietly replaced a government. The Articles of ConfederationThe first national framework, in force 1781 to 1789. Congress could not tax, could not regulate commerce, and needed unanimity to amend.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) required unanimous consentDoing business by universal agreement instead of votes. Most Senate floor action happens this way, which is why a single objecting senator has real power.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) to amend; the framers set the bar at nine states and sent the document to popularly elected conventions instead of legislatures. The gamble worked: ratification took ten months, and the promise to add a Bill of RightsThe first ten amendments, ratified in 1791. They were the price several states demanded for ratifying the Constitution at all.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) sealed it. The convention finished its work on September 17, 1787, the date now observed as Constitution Day.