State Ratification Maps

Between December 1787 and May 1790 each of the original thirteen states called a convention—or conventions, in the case of North Carolina—to consider the Constitution. The maps below illustrate the final votes for and against the Constitution in each of these state conventions. Though not one of the original thirteen states, Vermont also ratified the Constitution in a state convention. The map detailing its ratification is also available below.

Updated versions of these maps are now available for purchase at our online bookstore either for an individual state or as a portfolio containing all sixteen maps.

Individual State Maps

Atlas of State Ratification Maps

The CSAC has recently published an atlas of ratification maps entitled Mapping the Constitution: The Cartographic History of the Ratification of the Constitution. Discounted at $20, this volume is listed under the Bookstore tab “Other Books.”

Ending in mid-September 1787, the Constitutional Convention recommended that the state legislatures call conventions elected by the people to consider ratifying the newly-proposed Constitution. The five New England state legislatures called conventions in which delegates represented their towns, while in the other nine state conventions delegates represented counties and a few large towns. The maps in this atlas show the division between Federalists and Antifederalists in all fourteen states. This volume also contains a map derived from a map originally created in 1894 that depicts the geographical division of the vote on the Constitution throughout the country. Another map shows the locations of American towns in which around 100 newspapers and magazines were published in 1787–1790. Additionally, the names of the convention delegates are listed in state rosters arranged alphabetically by their towns and/or counties. There is also a comprehensive alphabetical listing of all the convention delegates.