Which state ratified the constitution when alexander hamilton threatened

Jefferson was not among the founding fathers who gathered in Philadelphia; he was in Paris serving as minister to France. John Adams was also abroad, serving as minister to Great Britain. When the Constitutional Convention opened on May 14, , only delegates from Pennsylvania and Virginia were present. Weather—ever the convenient excuse—was blamed for the tardiness, but the convention was plagued throughout with attendance issues. Nineteen of the 74 delegates to the convention never even attended a single session, and of the 55 delegates who did show up in Philadelphia, no more than 30 stayed for the full four months.

Although 55 delegates participated in the Constitutional Convention, there are only 39 signatures on the Constitution. Fourteen men, having already left Philadelphia, were not present for the signing, and only Delaware delegate John Dickinson had a proxy sign for him.

Three delegates—Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts and Edmund Randolph and George Mason of Virginia—were dissatisfied with the final document and refused to ink their signatures. The Constitution was to be ratified by special ratifying conventions, not by state legislature. Interested in retaining power, states were resistant to ratifying a new, stronger central government.

Those who favored ratification were known as Federalists,while those who opposed it were considered Anti- Federalists. The Federalists attacked the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists also supported a House of Representative with substantive power. They acknowledged that the Constitution was not perfect, but they said that it was much better than any other proposal.

These essays explained the Constitution and defended its provisions. The documents were intended for the state of New York, though people from across the country read them. The Federalists defended the weakest point of the Constitution—a lack of a Bill of Rights—by suggesting that current protections were sufficient and that the Congress could always propose Amendments.

Anti-Federalists such as Patrick Henry attacked the Constitution, suggesting that it would lead to a dangerously powerful national government. The Federalist Papers were written between and encouraged people to ask their representatives to ratify the Constitution. Identify the three authors of, the individual papers in, and the principal reasons behind the Federalist Papers. During and , there were 85 essays published in several New York State newspapers, designed to convince New York and Virginia voters to ratify the Constitution.

The three people who are generally acknowledged for writing these essays are Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. One of the most famous Federalist Papers is Federalist No. Anti-Federalists did not support ratification. Madison also wrote Federalist No. That way, the government can work in the best interests of the people and not each other. The Anti-Federalists had several complaints with the Constitution.

One of their biggest was that the Constitution did not provide for a Bill of Rights protecting the people. They also thought the Constitution gave too much power to the federal government and too little to individual states.

A third complaint of the Anti-Federalists was that senators and the president were not directly elected by the people, and the House of Representatives was elected every two years instead of annually. On December 7, , Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution. The vote was unanimous, Pennsylvania followed on December 12, and New Jersey ratified on December 18, also in a unanimous vote. On August 2, , North Carolina refused to ratify the Constitution without amendments, but it relented and ratified it a year later.

And still others feared that the new government threatened their personal liberties. During the push for ratification, many of the articles in opposition were written under pseudonyms, such as " Brutus ," " Centinel ", and " Federal Farmer ," but some famous revolutionary figures such as Patrick Henry came out publicly against the Constitution.

Although the Anti-Federalists were unsuccessful in the prevention of the adoption of the Constitution, their efforts were responsible for the creation and implementation of the Bill of Rights. In Rhode Island resistance against the Constitution was so strong that civil war almost broke out on July 4, , when anti-federalist members of the Country Party led by Judge William West marched into Providence with over 1, armed protesters. Although not all of the States underwent the extreme of the Rhode Island case, many of them had a bit of difficulty deciding which side they were on.

This uncertainty played a major role in the ratification convention in Massachusetts. Finally, after long debate, a compromise the " Massachusetts Compromise " was reached. Massachusetts would ratify the Constitution, and in the ratifying document strongly suggest that the Constitution be amended with a bill of rights. Four of the next five states to ratify, including New Hampshire , Virginia , and New York , included similar language in their ratification instruments.

As a result, after the Constitution was enacted, Congress sent a set of twelve amendments to the states. Ten of these amendments were immediately ratified into the Bill of Rights. Call to order: or order pocket constitution books online. All rights reserved. Oak Hill Publishing Company.

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