ABSTRACT
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and South Carolina, comprises fundamentally strong states that had certain characteristics which either sapped their strength or gave them the illusion that they were weak, and New Hampshire, a weak state that had certain characteristics which gave it the illusion of being strong. This chapter deals with the contests over ratification in these states, in the order in which they ratified the Constitution. In the city the great merchants and men with other personalty interests fluctuated in their political affiliations, but at the moment about three out of five were Republicans. The considerations that influenced the Connecticut River area to vote for ratification also helped to some extent to shape the attitudes of the northern frontier area. Study of the economic backgrounds of the personnel of the ratifying convention leads to the conclusion that economic considerations could have had little weight in determining the decision of most members of the convention.
