Which two states refused to ratify the Constitution until a Bill of Rights was added?
Asked by: Terence Trantow | Last update: March 7, 2026Score: 4.8/5 (66 votes)
The two states that refused to ratify the Constitution until a Bill of Rights was added were North Carolina and Rhode Island, both of whom waited until after the first Congress proposed amendments, with North Carolina ratifying in November 1789 and Rhode Island in May 1790, after the new government was already in operation.
What two states refused to ratify the Constitution until a Bill of Rights was added?
Two states, Rhode Island and North Carolina, refused to ratify without a bill of rights. A year later in June of 1789, Madison proposed a series of amendments to be debated in the first Congress.
What states refused to ratify the New Constitution without a Bill of Rights?
Two states, North Carolina and Rhode Island, refused to ratify the new plan of government.
Which two states initially refused to ratify the Constitution?
Securing the ninth state was not going to be an easy task. In fact, North Carolina and Rhode Island did not ratify the Constitution until November 1789 and May 1790, respectively. They did so only after the First Congress sent 12 amendment proposals to the states for ratification.
Did any states not ratify the Bill of Rights?
When the Second Congress adjourned, the ratification of 10 Amendments by 11 States had been officially received by Jefferson, the Congress, and the President. The Constitution now contained a Bill of Rights. Three States did not officially support the adoption or rejection of the Bill of Rights.
Why wasn’t the Bill of Rights originally in the US Constitution? - James Coll
What were the two rejected amendments?
In 1789, at the time of the submission of the Bill of Rights, twelve pro-were ratified and became the first ten amendments to the Constitution. Proposed Articles I and II were not ratified with these ten, but, in 1992, Article II was proclaimed as ratified, 203 years later.
Which state has not ratified the Constitution?
March 1790
By March of 1790, Rhode Island is the only state that has not ratified the Constitution.
Who refused to ratify the Constitution?
Of the delegates present on the final day of the Constitutional Convention on 17 September 1787, only three refused to sign the Constitution—Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts and George Mason and Edmund Randolph of Virginia.
Why did North Carolina refuse to ratify the Constitution?
The debate resulted in the delegates voting 184 to 84 to neither ratify nor reject the Constitution, and North Carolina was not part of the Union until the 1789 Fayetteville Convention. One of the major reasons why North Carolina didn't ratify the Constitution was the lack of Bill of Rights.
What three states did not ratify the era?
The 15 states whose legislatures did not ratify the Equal Rights Amendment by the 1982 deadline are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia. Congress.
Why didn't all states ratify the Constitution at first?
They weren't yet a union. They had scrapped the articles of confederation, and even if that applied it would require a unanimous vote. If 9 states voted to be apart of a union the remaining shouldn't be obligated to also join the union.
Which state refused to participate in the ratification process?
Rhode Island was the only state not to send delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Then, when asked to convene a state convention to ratify the Constitution, Rhode Island instead sent the ratification question to individual towns asking them to vote.
Which states did not ratify the 16th amendment?
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Utah, and Florida rejected the 16th Amendment, while Pennsylvania and Virginia took no action, though the amendment was ratified by the necessary three-fourths of states by February 1913, establishing the federal income tax.
Which two states wouldn't ratify until after the government had been established?
Interestingly, the final two states—North Carolina and Rhode Island—wouldn't ratify the Constitution until after the new government was already established.
Who was opposed to the Bill of Rights?
The birth of the Bill of Rights was controversial: Anti-Federalists demanded a concise constitution, which clearly delineated the people's rights and the limitations of the power of government. Federalists opposed the inclusion of a bill of rights as unnecessary.
Why did CT not ratify the Bill of Rights?
By Dec. 15, 1791, Virginia became the 11th state to ratify the Bill of Rights, enshrining them into law. For Connecticut, adopting the Bill of Rights had become moot, as “there was no legal need” for action as the National Archives states.
Why were some states hesitant to ratify the Constitution?
The first five states to ratify the Constitution were Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, beginning Dec. 7, 1787. The rest of the states were still hesitant, disturbed by what they perceived as a lack of protection outlined for basic freedoms.
What does 12th state mean?
On November 21, 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the United States Constitution. In the run-up to the American Civil War, North Carolina declared its secession from the Union on May 20, 1861, becoming the tenth of eleven states to join the Confederate States of America.
Why did southern states refuse to ratify the 14th Amendment?
Southerners thought the 14th Amendment had been passed to punish them for starting the Civil War, and they refused to ratify it. Indeed there were sections which prevented ex-Confederates from voting, holding office, or being paid back for lending money to the Confederacy.
What two states did not ratify the Constitution?
The two states that initially voted against ratifying the U.S. Constitution were North Carolina and Rhode Island, both holding out until after the new government was established, with Rhode Island refusing to send delegates and North Carolina delaying ratification until a Bill of Rights was promised.
What state did not ratify the Constitution until 1790?
It was not until May 29, 1790, that the last state, Rhode Island, finally ratified the Constitution.
Did all 13 states need to ratify the Constitution?
Yes, all 13 original states eventually ratified the U.S. Constitution, but not all at once; Delaware was the first in 1787, and Rhode Island was the very last to ratify on May 29, 1790, after the new government was already operating for over a year. The Constitution became official when the required nine states ratified it in 1788, but all states joined over the next couple of years.
Which states did not formally ratify the Bill of Rights until 1939?
At the time Virginia ratified, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Georgia had not sent their approvals to Congress. In 1939, the 150th anniversary of Congressional approval of the amendments, all three states symbolically ratified the Bill of Rights.
What does "ratified" mean?
To ratify means to approve or enact a legally binding act that would not otherwise be binding in the absence of such approval. In the constitutional context, nations may ratify an amendment to an existing or adoption of a new constitution.
Why did Rhode Island refuse to ratify the Constitution?
Other issues included fear of direct federal taxes and aversion to the lengthy terms for members of Congress. The state's large Quaker population was offended by provisions on the slave trade, while the Federalists' scorn for the state's "excess of democracy" made its residents see the Constitution as a threat.