VIRGINIA IS THE STATE

Virginia is the state

Virginia is the state

The Editor

The Daily News Leader

Florida

Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I would like to draw attention to (or warning, I must say) the least warranted ratification of the proposed constitution. Virginia is a state important not only for its condition as the largest, most populous, and perhaps most prosperous in the Union, but also for the intellect and stature of the personnel on both sides of the debate. Virginia ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1788 and New York did so on 26 July. In early January 1789, almost all states ratified. However, North Carolina and Rhode Island refused to approve the Constitution and join the new government until Congress agreed to add a bill of rights.

Virginia ratified the Constitution in two steps. The first was the declaration of ratification. The second was a recommendation that a bill of rights be added to the Constitution, and that a list of amendments also be added in accordance with Article 5. The objections of opponents were that the document had not included a bill of rights, that the president would have too much independence and that the Senate was aristocratic in the extreme. They also believed that Congress would have too much power and the authority of the national government would be excessive. Friends of the Constitution rallied to its support for ratification. They became known as Federalists. To his opponents were called Anti-federalists. The two groups promoted their causes in the press, in pamphlets and in debates in the ratifying conventions. From these groups came the first American political parties (Peltason 2004).

Let us put a glance on economic characteristics of the distinct geographical divisions of a state that explains its vote on the Constitution. Virginia, is made up ...