Rhode Island’s Ratification
Ratification of the Constitution by the State of Rhode Island, May 29, 1790.
Rhode Island was the thirteenth state to do so. Rhode Island’s ratification
message is lengthy, with a list similar to that of New York’s, listing a bill
of rights and listing several proposed amendments. Most of the amendments were
not original, having been suggested in prior ratification documents. Rhode
Island was the last of the original thirteen states to ratify the Constitution.
The following text is taken from the Library of Congress’s copy of Elliot’s
Debates.
A copy of the Constitution was included in the
ratification document.
Ratification of the Constitution by the Convention of the State of Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations.
We, the delegates of the people of the state of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, duly elected and met in Convention, having maturely considered the
Constitution for the United States of America, agreed to on the seventeenth day
of September, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, by the
Convention then assembled at Philadelphia, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
(a copy whereof precedes these presents,) and having also seriously and
deliberately considered the present situation of this state, do declare and
make known,—
I. That there are certain natural rights of which men, when they form a
social compact, cannot deprive or divest their posterity,—among which are the
enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring, possessing, and
protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.
II. That all power is naturally vested in, and consequently derived from,
the people; that magistrates, therefore, are their trustees and agents, and at
all times amenable to them.
III. That the powers of government may be reassumed by the people whensoever
it shall become necessary to their happiness. That the rights of the states
respectively to nominate and appoint all state officers, and every other power,
jurisdiction, and right, which is not by the said Constitution clearly
delegated to the Congress of the United States, or to the departments of
government thereof, remain to the people of the several states, or their
respective state governments, to whom they may have granted the same; and that
those clauses in the Constitution which declare that Congress shall not have or
exercise certain powers, do not imply that Congress is entitled to any powers
not given by the said Constitution; but such clauses are to be construed as
exceptions to certain specified powers, or as inserted merely for greater
caution.
IV. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner
of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, and not by
force and violence; and therefore all men have a natural, equal, and
unalienable right to the exercise of religion according to the dictates of
conscience; and that no particular religious sect or society ought to be
favored or established, by law, in preference to others.
V. That the legislative, executive, and judiciary powers of government
should be separate and distinct; and, that the members of the two first may be
restrained from oppression, by feeling and participating the public burdens,
they should, at fixed periods, be reduced to a private station, returned into
the mass of the people, and the vacancies be supplied by certain and regular
elections, in which all or any part of the former members to be eligible or
ineligible, as the rules of the constitution of government and the laws shall
direct.
VI. That elections of representatives in legislature ought to be free and
frequent; and all men having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest
with, and attachment to, the community, ought to have the right of suffrage;
and no aid, charge, tax, or fee, can be set, rated, or levied, upon the people
without their own consent, or that of their representatives so elected, nor can
they be bound by any law to which they have not in like manner consented for
the public good.
VII. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any
authority, without the consent of the representatives of the people in the
legislature, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised.
VIII. That, in all capital and criminal prosecutions, a man hath the right
to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the
accusers and witnesses, to call for evidence, and be allowed counsel in his
favor, and to a fair and speedy trial by an impartial jury in his vicinage,
without whose unanimous consent he cannot be found guilty, (except in the
government of the land and naval forces,) nor can he be compelled to give
evidence against himself.
IX. That no freeman ought to be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his
freehold, liberties, privileges, or franchises, or outlawed, or exiled, or in
any manner destroyed or deprived of his life, liberty or property, but by the
trial by jury, or by the law of the land.
X. That every freeman restrained of his liberty is entitled to a remedy, to
inquire into the lawfulness thereof, and to remove the same if unlawful, and
that such remedy ought not to be denied or delayed.
XI. That in controversies respecting property, and in suits between man and
man, the ancient trial by jury, as hath been exercised by us and our ancestors,
from the time whereof the memory of man is not to the contrary, is one of the
greatest securities to the rights of the people, and ought to remain sacred and
inviolable.
XII. That every freeman ought to obtain right and justice, freely and
without sale completely and without denial, promptly and without delay; and
that all establishments or regulations contravening these rights are oppressive
and unjust.
XIII. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted.
XIV. That every person has a right to be secure from all unreasonable
searches and seizures of his person his papers, or his property; and therefore,
that all warrants to search suspected places, to seize any person, his papers,
or his property, without information upon oath or affirmation of sufficient
cause, are grievous and oppressive; and that all general warrants (or such in
which the place or person suspected are not particularly designated) are
dangerous, and ought not to be granted.
XV. That the people have a right peaceably to assemble together to consult
for their common good, or to instruct their representatives; and that every
person has a right to petition or apply to the legislature for redress of
grievances.
XVI. That the people have a right to freedom of speech, and of writing and
publishing their sentiments. That freedom of the press is one of the greatest
bulwarks of liberty, and ought not to be violated.
XVII. That the people have a right to keep and bear arms; that a well-
regulated militia, including the body of the people capable of bearing arms, is
the proper, natural, and safe defence of a free state; that the militia shall
not be subject to martial law, except in time of war, rebellion, or
insurrection; that standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty,
and ought not to be kept up, except in cases of necessity; and that, at all
times, the military should be under strict subordination to the civil power;
that, in time of peace, no soldier ought to be quartered in any house without
the consent of the owner, and in time of war only by the civil magistrates, in
such manner as the law directs.
XVIII. That any person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms ought to be
exempted upon payment of an equivalent to employ another to bear arms in his
stead.
Under these impressions, and declaring that the rights aforesaid cannot be
abridged or violated, and that the explanations aforesaid are consistent with
the said Constitution, and in confidence that the amendments hereafter
mentioned will receive an early and mature consideration, and, conformably to
the fifth article of said Constitution, speedily become a part thereof,—We,
the said delegates, in the name and in the behalf of the people of the state of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, do, by these presents, assent to and
ratify the said Constitution. In full confidence, nevertheless, that, until the
amendments hereafter proposed and undermentioned shall be agreed to and
ratified, pursuant to the aforesaid fifth article, the militia of this state
will not be continued in service out of this state, for a longer term than six
weeks, without the consent of the legislature thereof; that the Congress will
not make or alter any regulation in this state respecting the times, places,
and manner, of holding elections for senators or representatives, unless the
legislature of this state shall neglect or refuse to make laws or regulations
for the purpose, or, from any circumstance, be incapable of making the same;
and that, in those cases, such power will only be exercised until the
legislature of this state shall make provision in the premises; that the
Congress will not lay direct taxes within this state, but when the moneys
arising from impost, tonnage, and excise, shall be insufficient for the public
exigencies, nor until the Congress shall have first made a requisition upon
this state to assess, levy, and pay, the amount of such requisition made
agreeable to the census fixed in the said Constitution, in such way and manner
as the legislature of this state shall judge best; and that Congress will not
lay any capitation or poll tax.
Done in Convention, at Newport, in the county of Newport, in the state of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the twenty-ninth day of May, in the
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety, and in the fourteenth
year of the independence of the United States of America.
By order of the Convention.
DANIEL OWEN, President.
Attest. Daniel Updike, Secretary.
And the Convention do, in the name and behalf of the people of the state of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, enjoin it upon the senators and
representative or representatives, which may be elected to represent this state
in Congress, to exert all their influence, and use all reasonable means, to
obtain a ratification of the following amendments to the said Constitution, in
the manner prescribed therein; and in all laws to be passed by the Congress in
the mean time, to conform to the spirit of the said amendments, as far as the
Constitution will admit.
Amendments.
I. The United States shall guaranty to each state its sovereignty, freedom,
and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by
this Constitution expressly delegated to the United States.
II. That Congress shall not alter, modify, or interfere in, the times,
places, or manner, of holding elections for senators and representatives, or
either of them, except when the legislature of any state shall neglect, refuse,
or be disabled, by invasion or rebellion, to prescribe the same, or in case
when the provision made by the state is so imperfect as that no consequent
election is had, and then only until the legislature of such state shall make
provision in the premises.
III. It is declared by the Convention, that the judicial power of the United
States, in cases in which a state may be a party, does not extend to criminal
prosecutions, or to authorize any suit by any person against a state; but, to
remove all doubts or controversies respecting the same, that it be especially
expressed, as a part of the Constitution of the United States, that Congress
shall not, directly or indirectly, either by themselves or through the
judiciary, interfere with any one of the states, in the redemption of paper
money already emitted, and now in circulation, or in liquidating and
discharging the public securities of any one state; that each and every state
shall have the exclusive right of making such laws and regulations for the
before-mentioned purpose as they shall think proper.
IV. That no amendments to the Constitution of the United States, hereafter
to be made, pursuant to the fifth article, shall take effect, or become a part
of the Constitution of the United States, after the year one thousand seven
hundred and ninety-three, without the consent of eleven of the states
heretofore united under the Confederation.
V. That the judicial powers of the United States shall extend to no possible
case where the cause of action shall have originated before the ratification of
this Constitution, except in disputes between states about their territory,
disputes between persons claiming lands under grants of different states, and
debts due to the United States.
VI. That no person shall be compelled to do military duty otherwise than by
voluntary enlistment, except in cases of general invasion; any thing in the
second paragraph of the sixth article of the Constitution, or any law made
under the Constitution, to the contrary notwithstanding.
VII. That no capitation or poll tax shall ever be laid by Congress.
VIII. In cases of direct taxes, Congress shall first make requisitions on
the several states to assess, levy, and pay, their respective proportions of
such requisitions, in such way and manner as the legislatures of the several
states shall judge best; and in case any state shall neglect or refuse to pay
its proportion, pursuant to such requisition, then Congress may assess and levy
such state’s proportion, together with interest, at the rate of six per cent.
per annum, from the time prescribed in such requisition.
IX. That Congress shall lay no direct taxes without the consent of the
legislatures of three fourths of the states in the Union.
X. That the Journal of the proceedings of the Senate and House of
Representatives shall be published as soon as conveniently may be, at least
once in every year; except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances,
or military operations, as in their judgment require secrecy.
XI. That regular statements of the receipts and expenditures of all public
moneys shall be published at least once a year.
XII. As standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and
ought not to be kept up, except in cases of necessity, and as, at all times,
the military should be under strict subordination to the civil power, that,
therefore, no standing army or regular troops shall be raised or kept up in
time of peace.
XIII. That no moneys be borrowed, on the credit of the United States,
without the assent of two thirds of the senators and representatives present in
each house.
XIV. That the Congress shall not declare war without the concurrence of two
thirds of the senators and representatives present in each house.
XV. That the words “without the consent of Congress,” in the seventh clause
in the ninth section of the first article of the Constitution, be expunged.
XVI. That no judge of the Supreme Court of the United States shall hold any
other office under the United States, or any of them; nor shall any officer
appointed by Congress, or by the President and Senate of the United States, be
permitted to hold any office under the appointment of any of the states.
XVII. As a traffic tending to establish or continue the slavery of any part
of the human species is disgraceful to the cause of liberty and humanity, that
Congress shall, as soon as may be, promote and establish such laws and
regulations as may effectually prevent the importation of slaves of every
description into the United States.
XVIII. That the state legislatures have power to recall, when they think it
expedient, their federal senators, and to send others in their stead.
XIX. That Congress have power to establish a uniform rule of inhabitancy or
settlement of the poor of the different states throughout the United
States.
XX. That Congress erect no company with exclusive advantages of
commerce.
XXI. That when two members shall move and call for the ayes and nays on any
question, they shall be entered on the Journals of the houses respectively.
Done in Convention, at Newport, in the county of Newport, in the state of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the twenty-ninth day of May, in the
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety, and the 14th year of
the independence of the United States of America.
By order of the Convention.
DANIEL OWEN, President.
Attest. Daniel Updike, Secretary.