University of Wisconsin Center for the Study of the American Constitution, Maryland Ratifies the Constitution, 26 April 1788

Although Maryland was a strong Federalist state that easily had enough votes to ratify the Constitution, it was not without critics of the Constitution. Of note was Luther Martin, who opposed the idea of a strong central government and consistently sided with the small states. At the Constitutional Convention, he spoke passionately against the Virginia Plan's proposal for proportionate representation in both houses of the legislature. Back at Maryland's ratifying convention, he opposed ratification and wrote in opposition to it in numerous newspaper articles. Nonetheless, Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the Constitution by a vote of 63 to 11 on April 26, 1788.