Article Seven of the United States Constitution

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Article Seven of the United States Constitution describes the process by which the entire document is to be ratified and take 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.

This process posed a danger: if nine states ratified, but not all thirteen, the states would be split among two possibly incontiguous countries. When New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify in 1788, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island remained: the former two were the most populous and most wealthy American states, respectively. Congress, as established under the Articles of Confederation, chose March 4, 1789 as the day "for commencing proceedings under the Constitution." Virginia and New York ratified the constitution before that time; North Carolina and Rhode Island ratified later, after the new government took power in the remaining eleven states.

The Constitution was ratified by the states in the following order:

	Date	State	Votes		% Approval
	Date	State	Yea	Nay	% Approval
1	December 7, 1787	Delaware	30	0	100%
2	December 12, 1787	Pennsylvania	46	23	67%
3	December 18, 1787	New Jersey	38	0	100%
4	January 2, 1788	Georgia	26	0	100%
5	January 9, 1788	Connecticut	128	40	76%
6	February 6, 1788	Massachusetts	187	168	53%
7	April 28, 1788	Maryland	63	11	85%
8	May 23, 1788	South Carolina	149	73	67%
9	June 21, 1788	New Hampshire	57	47	55%
10	June 25, 1788	Virginia	89	79	53%
11	July 26, 1788	New York	30	27	53%
12	November 21, 1789	North Carolina	194	77	72%
13	May 29, 1790	Rhode Island	34	32	52%