The State Constitutional

Convention Clearinghouse

U.S. states where the people can use a periodic state constitutional convention referendum
to bypass the legislature's gatekeeping power over constitutional amendment

State ConCon Ratification of the U.S. Constitution

wdt_ID State Start Date End Date Expected Vote Final Vote Population (1000s) Pop. Rank # Proposed Amendments
1 Delaware 12/04/1787 12/07/1787 30–0 30–0 60 13 0
28 Pennsylvania 11/20/1787 12/12/1787 46–23 46–23 434 3 0
38 New Jersey 12/11/1787 12/18/1787 38–0 38–0 184 9 0
39 Georgia 12/25/1787 12/31/1787 26–0 26–0 83 11 0
40 Connecticut 01/03/1788 01/09/1788 128–40 128–40 238 8 0
41 Massachusetts 01/09/1788 02/06/1788 177–178 187–168 475 2 9
42 Maryland 04/21/1788 04/26/1788 64–12 63–11 320 7 13
43 South Carolina 05/12/1788 05/23/1788 149–73 149–73 250 5 5
44 New Hamphsire 06/18/1788 06/21/1788 52–52 57–47 142 10 12
45 Virginia 06/02/1788 06/25/1788 84–84 89–79 821 1 20
46 New York 06/17/1788 07/26/1788 9–46 30–27 340 6 31
47 North Carolina 11/16/1789 11/21/1789 194–77 194–77 429 4 26
48 Rhode Island 05/26/1790 05/29/1790 34–32 34–32 69 12 21

Source: Lloyd Gordon, Ratification of the Constitution, TeachingAmericanHistory.org.  Accessed 1/25/2017.  http://teachingamericanhistory.org/ratification/overview/

Related Information:

  • State by state timeline of documents relating to the state constitutional conventions: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/ratification/timeline-state/#newyork

Proposed Amendments.

  • Massachusetts: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/ratification/elliot/vol2/massachusetts0206/#amendments
  • Maryland: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/ratification/elliot/vol2/maryland.html
  • New Hampshire: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/ratification/tansill/ratification-newhampshire/
  • Virginia: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/ratification/elliot/vol3/june27/
  • New York: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/ratification/timeline-state/#newyork
  • North Carolina: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/ratification/tansill/ratification-northcarolina/
  • Rhode Island: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/ratification/tansill/ratification-rhodeisland/