Chapter 30 1. A successful start

Delaware, the first small northern state to ratify the federal constitution, was on December 7, 1787. As the smallest state at the time, Delaware was the loudest at the Constitutional Convention and the first to ratify the Constitution.This may seem a bit strange, but it is not difficult to understand. On June 28, Madison said at the Constitutional Convention that small states adjacent to large states should actually place their hopes on the overall government, because only the overall government can govern equally between large and small states.In fact, this is exactly what Delaware thinks in his heart.Delaware was originally the three counties in southern New York, commonly known as the "Lower Three Counties", which were later assigned to Pennsylvania and shared a governor with Pennsylvania. On September 21, 1776, under the leadership of George Reed and others, Delaware passed the constitution and established a government, but the economy was still influenced and controlled by Pennsylvania. Almost all commodities had to be exported through Philadelphia. The power is completely in the hands of Pennsylvania, and it is even regarded as "part of the Philadelphia business empire". The heavy export tax often makes Delaware breathless.Becoming part of the new country under the new constitution is undoubtedly more conducive to the existence and development of Delaware, at least to avoid oppression by exporting states.Therefore, Delaware is interested in establishing the "supreme government of the country" (vote for it at the time of voting), and all five representatives persisted in the end and signed the constitution.They fought hard at the constitutional convention, but they were afraid of being swallowed by a big country.Later, since equal voting rights were won, it is natural to be optimistic.They even decided to beat Pennsylvania to the honor of first ratification.As a result, the Delaware Congress unanimously passed the approval (30:0), and the Congress even decided to cede a piece of land in Wilmington as the capital of the Federation.

Then came Pennsylvania, just five days after Delaware, on December 12, 1787.Pennsylvania was also a state interested in establishing general government.As the leader of the Great and Middle States, Pennsylvania hoped to become the economic and social center of the new government, gaining through the Union a stronger union with the other states, especially Delaware and New Jersey.Therefore, she sent the largest number of delegations and the strongest lineup.Guweno Morris and Wilson spoke frequently at the meeting, while Franklin came forward to mediate and mediate at critical moments, persuading and persuading, in fact influencing and even controlling the process of the meeting. The difference between the "Supreme Government of the Confederacy" and the "Supreme Government of the Nation" was explained by Goweno Morris, and Wilson fought alongside Madison almost all the time.The internal opinions of the Pennsylvania delegation were also relatively unified, and all 8 representatives persisted to the end and signed the constitution.After the Constitutional Convention, Pennsylvania was the first to hold representative elections and the first to hold a ratification convention.Pennsylvania would have been the first state to ratify the Confederate Constitution if Delaware hadn't jumped ahead.

But the ratification of the Constitution did not go well in Pennsylvania, and was actually a bitter partisan struggle.The result was that those who were in favor of the Constitution defeated those who were against it.Wilson spoke impassionedly before the State Assembly, saying that those who opposed the Constitution were selfish.Their thoughts were not on the freedom of the state, but on their own wealth.The opposition was at a disadvantage, and newspapers refused to even publish their statements.Seeing that the general situation was over, the opposition refused to attend the meeting, hoping that the meeting would not reach a quorum, but they were "kidnapped" by citizens who supported the constitution.In the end, the motion to ratify the Federal Constitution was passed by the Congress by a vote of 46 to 23.

New Jersey was the third to ratify the Constitution.New Jersey was formed from the merger of two colonies.One East Jersey, one West Jersey, together they are called New Jersey.The eastern and western parts are quite different in terms of geography, culture, and religion.The East is more radical, with many Federalists.The west is relatively conservative, and there are more anti-federalists.But the Anti-Federalists eventually voted for the Constitution.The main reason was that the Anti-Federalists realized that, due to the lack of harbors, they had to come to the ports of New York and Philadelphia, and New York's continuous increase of tariffs made the state almost unprofitable.The new constitution can make the economies of the 13 states an interdependent whole, and the heavy debts can also be passed on to the federal government.Economic interests are more realistic than political principles, the common people don't listen to your rhetoric, the Anti-Federalists are forced to make concessions, under the auspices of Braley (who fought alongside Paterson at the Constitutional Convention), New Jersey The Congress voted unanimously (38:0) to approve the constitutional bill on December 18, 1787, only six days after Pennsylvania.

Fourth Georgia to ratify the Federal Constitution.As the third-to-last small southern state, Georgia is full of contradictions.On the one hand, she has great territorial ambitions, and on the other hand, she faces serious internal and external troubles.Spain is entrenched in the southern Florida peninsula, and the Creek Indians have been fighting against it for many years, making the Georgia state government almost desperate for finances.If a state is weak and poor, indebted and insecure, and wants to increase its land, what else can it do but rely on the power of the federal government?Therefore, the Georgia delegation almost never joined the chorus of state rights in the constitutional convention, but always supported the proposals of Virginia and Pennsylvania, as long as they did not oppose their buying and selling and using slaves. On January 2, 1788, Georgia ratified the Federal Constitution, and it was unanimously (26:0).

Seven days later, on January 9, 1788, Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the Federal Constitution.The Connecticut delegation played an extremely important role in the Constitutional Convention (i.e., the "Connecticut Compromise"), and the state's political elite was mostly Federalists, and public opinion was on their side (only five opposing articles featured in local newspapers).One of the reasons is that after the taxation power is given to the federal government, the tax burden of each state will be equal, Connecticut will no longer be at a disadvantage in the competition, and it can also ensure social stability.Connecticut then overwhelmingly ratified the Constitution (128:40).

Massachusetts ratified the Federal Constitution on February 7, 1788, two months later than Delaware.Although Massachusetts is a big state, her finances are the worst in the confederation. Not only does it have national debts, but it also defaulted on a large amount of state debts during the War of Independence.It was the problems caused by the debt that led to the Shays uprising in 1786; which in turn was one of the reasons for calling a constitutional convention and establishing a general government.In this sense, Massachusetts is most in a position to ratify the Constitution.The problem was that the Massachusetts opposition was too strong.Their leaders, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Elbridge Gerry, who refused to sign at the Constitutional Convention, were beyond the reach of the Federalists. .Because these three people all signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation (John Hancock also served as the chairman of the Continental Congress).Moreover, they were the only Massachusetts people who signed both documents.Among them, Samuel Adams is even more extraordinary. He is recognized as the "father of the American Revolution" (some people even call him "the Lenin of America"), and he has been making revolutions since 1764.It was he who called and led the colonial people's struggle against the stamp duty law, and Gerry was his follower.As we said earlier, Massachusetts is the birthplace of American independent thought and the birthplace of the revolutionary movement, and Samuel Adams was the revolutionary leader of Massachusetts.How can such a person oppose the constitution?

Fortunately, the opposition finally realized that the state could not compete with a united state in terms of regulating trade and organizing defense.What's more, the situation in Massachusetts is really not good, and it can't be hardened. On June 29, at the constitutional convention, Gorham persuaded the small state not to just oppose it, and the alliance broke up, which was of no benefit to anyone.Wouldn't Delaware, for example, be at the mercy of Pennsylvania?Reed, the head of the Delaware delegation, immediately pushed back, saying that if Delaware were to be a neighbor to Massachusetts.Nothing to worry about.Delaware has been enjoying peace!Reed said this, of course, because the Shays uprising happened in Massachusetts, but not in Delaware.

Such a precarious state does not actually have much capital to hold on.But they hoped that it would be best to have a strong federal government and the states to be independent and free.So Samuel Adams proposed a solution, which was to support the Constitution but urge amendments.The Federalists also agreed to add a Bill of Rights after the new constitution became operational.After a compromise was reached, Massachusetts ratified the constitution by a narrow margin of 187 to 168. Maryland's approval was supposed to be a bit of a hassle.Because two of the "Four Diamonds" (Yats, Lansing, Mercer, and Luther Martin) who insisted on opposing the Constitution were in Maryland.Mercer and Luther Martin left on August 18 and September 4, respectively, and returned to Maryland to sing the opposite, becoming the leader of the opposition in Maryland (the other leader of the opposition was Chase).But most people in Maryland realized that only in a national union could Maryland enjoy equal protection and opportunity, and become a center of regional trade and an important link between North and South in the economic expansion of the continent.As a result, Maryland ratified the Constitution overwhelmingly, 63 to 11, on April 28, 1788.

Unlike other states, South Carolinians are most concerned about whether they can keep their "fixed assets"-slaves.On this issue, the Constituent Assembly had a compromise: first, it stipulated that before 1808, the Congress could not prohibit the entry of the states that "should enter the country", which actually acquiesced in the slave trade; The ratio of /5 to calculate the population gives slave states more per capita political representation than non-slave states.This made the South Carolina delegation feel that they had fulfilled their mission, even took advantage of it, and felt that they should get something in return.So the delegates went back to South Carolina, talking good things about the Constitution.Those in favor of the Constitution also comforted those who had doubts by saying that although Congress may ban the slave trade in 21 years, it is not known whether that will be the case at that time, and it is better to agree first.What's more, even if the government banned the import of slaves, it didn't matter.There are 20 years of imports, coupled with the natural increase of slaves, the number is very considerable, and there will be domestic slaves flowing in from the north.So, while the new government's protection of our "fixed assets" may be inadequate, it's nothing compared to the many benefits the Constitution will provide.As a result, almost all powerful classes in South Carolina sided with the Federalists, and the Constitution was ratified by a huge margin of 149 to 73.The date is May 23, 1788.

A month later, on June 21, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the federal constitution.New Hampshire was a colony founded by the Puritans.As a Puritan in New England, New Hampshire worried that the government's neglect of religion would undermine the moral foundations of religious belief.The Federalists saw the problem and proposed adding the Bill of Rights as a conciliatory measure, which made some representatives change their original intention of opposing it.In the absence of five opposition representatives, New Hampshire approved the constitution with a slim majority of 57 to 46.