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Ix.
THE AFTERMATH OF RATIFICATION
IN RHODE ISLAND
29 May-20 November 1790
Introduction
The Rhode Island post-ratification documents in Part IX consist of
private letters, newspaper items, a broadside, a diary, town meetings,
and legislative records. Most of the letters were written by Rhode Is-
landers, with nine from Newport and five from Providence. All but one
of the seven other letters came from New York City. In individual letters,
two French diplomats stationed in New York City provided analyses of
the meaning of Rhode Island's final ratification of the Constitution.
The newspaper items printed below, most of them reports, came from
newspapers published primarily in Providence (11), Newport (6), Bos-
ton (4), and New York City (3). A broadside printed in Providence gave
news of Rhode Island's ratification and a diary entry described Presi-
dent George Washington's visit to Rhode Island in August 1790. Ac-
counts of two town meetings and actions by three legislative sessions
are printed here.
A wide variety of topics are considered in the documents printed in
Part IX. These include: reports of Rhode Island's ratification of the
Constitution on 29 May 1790; celebrations of Rhode Island ratification
in East Greenwich, Providence, and Warren; ongoing private and pub-
lic commentaries, even some satirical ones, on the meaning of the Con-
stitution and its projected impact; an illustration showing the erection
of Rhode Island as the thirteenth pillar to the new federal dome, thus
completing the ratification of the Constitution by the thirteen states;
correspondence seeking appointments for Rhode Islanders to offices
under the new central government; the state legislature's election of
two U.S. Senators and providing for the election of the state's first U.S.
Representative and its adoption of eleven of the twelve amendments to
the Constitution proposed by the U.S. Congress in September 1789;
the Providence Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers' Address
to President George Washington and his response; newspaper and pri-
vate descriptions of Washington's visit to Newport and Providence in
August 1790; and the state legislature's address to Washington and the
president's response.
When President Washington visited Newport and Providence, several
diverse groups addressed him in writing and he responded by letter to
each of them. The groups were (1) the clergy of Newport, consisting
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