University of Wisconsin Center for the Study of the American Constitution, Rhode Island Ratifies the Constitution, 29 May 1790

Rhode Island was the last state to ratify the the Constitution, voting to do so on May 29, 1790. When the Constitutional Convention began in 1787, the "Rogue Island" refused to send delegates. The populist Country Party that held power in the state was against a national tax and the expansion of the national government, and favored an inflationary monetary policy, once printing off 100,000 pounds worth of paper currency in a single month. Between September 1787 and January of 1790, Rhode Island rejected ratification 11 times. However, when the U.S. Congress threatened to cut off commerce with Rhode Island, ratification passed by narrowest of margins, 34 to 32.