Welch: How did Delaware become First State?
Tom Welch is a historical interpreter at the Old State House in Dover and an occasional portrayer of Allan McLane.
There are occasionally some folks, including people in high government positions, who say that Delaware became the First State because we were the first state to vote for the Declaration of Independence. Wrong!
And, further, some think that Caesar Rodney’s overnight ride July 1-2, 1776, was the event that made us the First State. Also wrong! (If Rodney had not died in 1784, there is a great certainty that he would have been a key player at the ratification convention in 1787.)
To set the record straight, Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution of the United States of America.
If that is all you need to know, read no further. If you would like to know more about the nation’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution, continue reading for some of the highlights of the process. And/or visit the Old State House on The Green in Dover on Saturday.
So, here is the story of Delaware becoming the First State.
On Sept. 17, 1787, George Washington and 54 other elected delegates completed their three-month deliberation of the Constitution and sent copies to each of the 13 former British colonies. A constitutional convention had been convened to try to fix the Articles of Confederation, which had proven to be a very ineffectual form of government. After determining that the Articles of Confederation were not fixable, they closed the windows of the Pennsylvania State House (recently renamed Independence Hall) and set out to devise a constitution in a more or less secret setting. So, on Sept. 17, the delegates voted on a final draft and set about sending copies to all the “states” for review and ratification. They also expressed their strong opinion that the vote in each state should be taken by separate slates of delegates, not the existing legislatures.
Thus, the Delaware General Assembly arranged to have delegates, referred to as “deputies,” in the Delaware Ratification Convention and elected by the eligible voters of each of the three counties. In November, 10 deputies were elected from each of the counties. They were to report to Dover on Dec. 2, 1787, where they met at the Golden Fleece Tavern on The Green. While there was some spirited debate among the deputies, by Dec. 6, they had reached the agreement unanimously to ratify, and then, on Dec. 7, 1787, after a short four days of deliberation, all 30 delegates ratified the Constitution of the United States of America. They then all signed the ratification document and, with an accompanying letter written by President Thomas Collins, a courier raced the signed document to Philadelphia. The date of the signing was Dec. 7, 1787, a date that will live in history — unlike Dec. 7, 1941, a date that will live in infamy.
Following Delaware claiming the first spot, the other states followed, Pennsylvania being second, on Dec. 12. New Hampshire joined the others by ratifying on June 22, 1788, providing the three-quarter majority required in the Constitution. After the required nine states had voted favorably, the final four — New York, Virginia, North Carolina and Rhode Island — finished the task. One of my puzzlements is why Rhode Island waited until 1790 to vote favorably.
Delaware Day did not become a thing until Gov. C. Douglass Buck signed a proclamation in 1933, making Dec. 7 the official holiday. Then, it was not until 2002 that the “First State” became Delaware’s official nickname.
You can find a good deal more about Delaware Day online. There are several websites that include information on ratification of the Constitution and Delaware Day.
Please consider visiting the Old State House on Saturday, where the staff stands ready to share more of the story of Delaware Day.
You also may want to visit the site of the Golden Fleece Tavern and the plaque that displays the wording of the very brief ratification document and the names of the 30 deputies.
Approximately 150 feet north of the tavern is Constitution Park. Included are the following features: a low bench with each of the 13 states chiseled into history, from No. 13 Rhode Island (1790) to No. 1 Delaware (1787); the actual wording of the entire U.S. Constitution etched on a 4-by-4-by-4-foot stainless steel cube balanced on a point, with an attached 8-foot quill pen; a plaque including the wording of the Delaware ratification document and the names of the 30 deputies; and a plaque listing the states in the order they achieved statehood.
Those of you who know my interest in the life and career of Allan McLane are probably not surprised that it led me to dig deeper into the Delaware Day story. It was on Dec. 7, 2008, prior to the premiere of the play, “Fully, Freely and Entirely,” that I was showing some State House visitors the plaque at Constitution Park. I was pointing to the sixth name on the list of 10 Kent County deputies, to show them the name of the man I would be portraying in the play later in the evening. As I was prepared to proudly say the name, “Allan McLane,” I noticed that the sixth name was not Allan McLane, but instead, it was “A.M. Zane.” McLane was obviously an intelligent man but not noted for being good in writing, spelling or grammar. His scribbled signature, “A.M. Lane,” was mistaken in Henry Conrad’s “History of the State of Delaware” as “A.M. Zane.” That is one of several reasons why McLane is not more widely known.
On Saturday, you are challenged to recognize both Delaware Day and Pearl Harbor Day. Both are important to our history.
Keep on digging into our history. There is much to learn and to appreciate.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
