Rhode Island Ratification of U.S. Constitution Question (March 1788)
| Rhode Island Ratification of U.S. Constitution Question | |
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| Topic Federal government issues |
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| Type Legislatively referred advisory question |
Origin |
Rhode Island Ratification of U.S. Constitution Question was on the ballot as a legislatively referred advisory question in Rhode Island on March 24, 1788. It was defeated.
A "yes" vote supported ratifying the proposed U.S. Constitution. |
A "no" vote opposed ratifying the proposed U.S. Constitution. |
Election results
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Rhode Island Ratification of U.S. Constitution Question |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 237 | 8.05% | ||
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2,708 | 91.95% | ||
Overview
On March 1, 1788, the Rhode Island General Assembly voted to hold a referendum on the proposed U.S. Constitution so "that the Sentiments of the People may be known."[1] The resolution called on "Freemen and Freeholders within this State, to convene in their respective Towns, in Town Meetings assembled, and to deliberate upon, and determine each Individual by himself by Poll, whether the said Constitution for the United States shall be adopted or negatived." On March 24, 1788, town clerks held meetings where electors voted 'Yea' or 'Nay.' Clerks recorded each vote and sent certified copies to the General Assembly.[2]
On April 3, 1788, the Rhode Island Assembly Committee on the Referendum certified the election results as 237 'Yea' and 2,708 'Nay.'[3] Historian John P. Kaminski reviewed town records, finding that results added to 238 'Yea' to 2,714 'Nay.'[4] Federalists called on electors to boycott the vote, and turnout was below 50%.[5]
Historians Ruth Wallis Herndon and John E. Murray wrote, "Alone among the thirteen states, Rhode Island held a popular referendum on ratification of the Constitution. In the two years following the referendum, a majority in the state legislature defeated eleven attempts to call a ratifying convention, claiming that the will of the people had been declared on 24 March 1788. Only after Rhode Island had stood by itself outside the Union for several months did anti-Constitution sentiment waver. The General Assembly finally called a ratifying convention in the spring of 1790, and Rhode Island voted to enter the Union on 29 May 1790, adopting the Constitution by a narrow margin."[3]
Text of measure
The following is the text of the act that authorized the referendum:[2]
Path to the ballot
On March 1, 1788, the Rhode Island General Assembly voted 42 to 12 to submit the proposed U.S. Constitution to a statewide vote of "the Freemen and Freeholders within this State."[1]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 University of Wisconsin - Madison Center for the Study of the American Constitution, "Introduction to the Ratification of the Constitution in Rhode Island," accessed February 10, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 University of Wisconsin - Madison Center for the Study of the American Constitution, "Rhode Island Act Calling a Referendum on the Constitution," accessed February 10, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 University of Wisconsin - Madison Center for the Study of the American Constitution, "The Process of Ratification: A Study of Four States," accessed February 10, 2025
- ↑ Herndon, R. W., & Murray, J. E. (2019). An economic interpretation of Rhode Island’s 1788 referendum on the Constitution. In J. Hall & M. Witcher (Eds.), Public choice analyses of American economic history (Vol. 3, pp. 117–135). Springer.
- ↑ University of Wisconsin - Madison Center for the Study of the American Constitution, "The Rhode Island State Referendum on the Constitution," accessed February 10, 2025
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