1. Background

2. Ratification of the Constitution

3. Ratification of constitutional amendments

4. See also

5. References

6. External links

The ratification of the United States Constitution by Rhode Island was the 1790 decision by the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ("Rhode Island") to accede to the United States Constitution. It was a controversial process that occurred only after the United States threatened a trade embargo against Rhode Island for non-compliance.

Background

Rhode Island early acquired a reputation for opposition to closer union with the other former British colonies that had formed the United States of America.^[1][2] Its veto of an act of the Congress of the Confederation earned it a number of deprecatory nicknames, including "Rogue Island" and "the Perverse Sister".^[1]

One provision of the Articles of Confederation stated that an amendment to the Articles could only be made with the approval of all of the states, and this gave any state a functional veto power over amendments. Other states opposed amendments that might harm their own interests, but Rhode Island was particularly ready to use its veto power. The United States Congress called a convention to propose amendments in order to deal with this and other perceived shortcomings in the Articles, but Rhode Island refused to participate, and the convention instead set about drafting a new Constitution.^[1][2] Rhode Island was the only state to not participate in its proceedings.^[2]

Ratification of the Constitution

By April 1, 1789, the new constitution had entered into force after the required nine states had completed their ratification processes. The First United States Congress had already convened, and the Congress had already passed twelve proposed amendments, but Rhode Island still had not ratified the new Constitution and continued to effectively operate outside the new governmental structure.^[2]

Opposition was chiefly due to the paper money issued in Rhode Island pounds since 1786 by the governing Country Party, intended to pay off the state's burdensome Revolutionary War debt. Other issues included fear of direct federal taxes and aversion toward the comparatively lengthy terms for members of Congress. (The lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly was elected twice a year, and the upper house annually.) The large Quaker population was offended by provisions on the slave trade, while federalists' scorn for the state's "excess of democracy" made its residents see the Constitution as a threat. The handful of federalist supporters was chiefly to be found among the mercantile classes of Providence and Newport.^[3]

Nearly a dozen conventions failed that had been called in Rhode Island to ratify the constitution, often by wide margins; in one instance, 92 percent voted against ratification. Opposition to the proposed constitution was greatest in rural areas; an attempt in Providence to celebrate New Hampshire's ratification on July 4, 1788 was broken up by a thousand-man force of Country Party supporters that descended on the capital to prevent the observances from going forward. Armed confrontation and possible civil war were averted only after organizers agreed to ensure that the celebrations would only commemorate Independence Day and not New Hampshire's ratification.^[1][2][4][5]

On May 18, 1790, the United States Senate passed a bill that would ban all trade with Rhode Island if enacted, effectively isolating the diminutive state from the outside world. Rhode Island capitulated eleven days later and ratified the constitution, before the proposed embargo could be acted on by the United States House of Representatives.^[1][14] However, Rhode Island's ratification included a lengthy list of caveats, including that "the powers of government may be reassumed by the people whensoever it shall become necessary". The ratification also contained a list of proposed amendments to the constitution that Rhode Island wished to see taken up, such as abolition of the slave trade.^[1][6][7][8]

Rhode Island's first congressman Benjamin Bourne took his seat that year on August 31.^[9]

Ratification of constitutional amendments

Rhode Island took 101 years to call a vote on ratification of the 17th amendment which began the direct election of senators. The measure came into force in 1913, but the Rhode Island General Assembly did not take up debate on the matter until 2013, ultimately passing it the following year.^[10][11]

Rhode Island earlier rejected the 16th amendment establishing a federal income tax, which came into force in 1913 despite its opposition.^[12]

See also

• Dorr Rebellion
• History of Rhode Island

References

External links

• [https://catalog.sos.ri.gov/repositories/2/digital_objects/174 Rhode Island Ratification of the U.S. Constitution: A List of the Yays and Nays from the Respective Towns], Rhode Island State Archives
• [https://csac.history.wisc.edu/states-and-ratification/rhode-island/ Rhode Island Ratification], Center for the Study of the American Constitution at the University of Wisconsin–Madison

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