Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Rhode Island was the last of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution (May 29, 1790)—over a year after it took effect. Its reluctance stemmed from four core concerns:
As the smallest colony with a fiercely independent streak (founded by religious dissenters), Rhode Island feared the new federal government would erode state autonomy. Its leaders had experienced domination by larger neighbors and distrusted centralized power.
Unlike most Northern states, Rhode Island's merchant elite actively profited from the Atlantic slave trade (Newport was a major slaving port). The Constitution's provision allowing Congress to ban the trade after 1808 (Article I, Section 9) threatened a lucrative commerce.
With ~68,000 people (1790 census), Rhode Island worried that Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania would control the federal legislature. The Senate's equal representation partially assuaged this, but House apportionment by population favored big states.
Anti-Federalists feared the Necessary and Proper Clause, Supremacy Clause, and federal taxation authority would enable intrusion into state affairs—particularly paper money issuance and debtor relief policies Rhode Island's legislature favored.
Only after the Bill of Rights was proposed and neighboring states threatened commercial retaliation did Rhode Island's convention narrowly approve ratification (34-32)—the closest vote of any state.