New York ratifies

On July 26, 1788, the New York ratifying convention at Poughkeepsie approved the Constitution by a vote of 30 to 27 after a bitter contest. Alexander Hamilton and John Jay fought for ratification, while Melancton Smith and many allies of Governor George Clinton warned against excessive federal power. The narrow vote kept New York in the Union after both Virginia and New Hampshire had already ratified.

The Poughkeepsie convention intensified the political tension between national union and state-centered suspicion of centralized authority. New York's location between New England and the middle states made its decision especially important for commerce, communications, and the legitimacy of the new government. The close margin also showed that Federalist victory depended on amendment promises and practical arguments, not on unanimous confidence in the Constitution.

New York's ratification helped secure acceptance of the Constitution in one of the Union's most strategically important states and cleared the way for New York City to host the first federal government in 1789. The convention's recommended amendments also added force to the campaign that produced the Bill of Rights.