On December 18, 1787, New Jersey become the third state to ratify the United States Constitution. The minutes of the ratification convention document the quick work of the delegates. The delegates required only six days to establish rules, review the document, and complete their deliberations.
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Following the unanimous approval of the federal constitution by New Jersey's ratification convention, the delegates directed their secretary to engross the ratification on parchment for signature. This document contains the full text of the constitution, the form of ratification, the original delegates' signatures, the convention secretary's attestation.
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On November 20, 1789, New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights. Of the twelve proposed, New Jersey actually approved eleven. Articles 3 through 12 became the 1st through 10th Amendments, guaranteeing the fundamental rights and freedoms of all American citizens.
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Since its ratification in 1788, the United States Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times. New Jersey was the first state to ratify the first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights. In all, our state has ratified 26 of the 27 proposed amendments that have passed the required three-fourths of the states.
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