The long sweep of history may have glossed over the imperfections of the U.S. constitution, but in the weeks following its signing, ratification was hardly a foregone conclusion. The Antifederalist party in particular opposed the constitution on grounds that it put too much power into the hands of a central government – exactly the sort of scenario the colonists escaped to the New World for and fought the British to overthrow. On the other hand, it was argued that a weak central government could not unite or protect the individual states. Against that backdrop, the legislature of Delaware met to consider the ratification of the Constitution.

On this day, December 7, in 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution, by a margin of 30-0. Delaware was staunchly pro-federalist, and their ready ratification was expected. The real test of the document would come in the states of  Massachusetts, Virginia and New York.

Massachusetts wanted the enumeration of certain inherent human rights that could not be taken away by the government: essentially, the Bill of Rights, which was introduced by Congress as a separate document to lessen the debate around the approval of the constitution. With Massachusetts mollified, New York and Virginia approved the document, albeit by a narrow margin.