Harrison on The First State to Ratify the United States Constitution

Alan Harrison (no affiliation provided to SSRN), has published The First State to Ratify the United States Constitution. Here is the abstract.

Delaware became the first state to ratify the United States Constitution because the small group of oligarchs who ran Delaware politics not only recognized the state’s dire financial situation and internal political turmoil, but were also able to direct the Philadelphia Convention and the ratification process so as to rapidly obtain effective relief for the underlying causes of that situation. In particular, the acceptance of the national debt by the newly-formed United States alleviated the problems of requisitions on states by Congress. Furthermore, provisions for uniform national currency promised to relieve the hardships of a barter economy, as well as the problem of state currencies secured by real property. Finally, the preservation of “one state, one vote” in the United States Senate mollified the political class and allowed Delaware’s financial interests to progress.

Download the essay from SSRN at the link.