Today’s Article is a short read. It is the ratification clause which told how this contract between the government and the people would go into effect.
Transcript from National Archives archives.gov
Explanation below the article, bolded and italicized.
Article. VII.
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
Once the Constitutional Convention settled on the original articles, it needed to be ratified by nine of the thirteen states to go into effect.
Delaware was the first state to ratify on December 7, 1787.
Followed by Pennsylvania and New Jersey in December 1787.
Next came Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire. At this point (June 21, 1788), the Constitution became legal.
Next came Virginia, New York, and North Carolina. Last of all Rhode Island ratified the Constitution on May 29, 1790.
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