"R" is for Ratification of the United States Constitution

"R" is for ratification of the United States Constitution. South Carolina’s ratification of a new federal Constitution in 1789 was never in doubt. Representation in the ratification convention was heavily skewed in favor of the Lowcountry where there was tremendous support for a strong federal government. Lowcountry residents were uncomfortable with the political forces unleashed by independence and the defeat of the British, and they did not trust the backcountry. Those opposed to the document, called anti-federalists, came mostly from the backcountry and represented the overwhelming majority of the state’s white citizenry. Backcountry residents were as strongly opposed to ratification as Lowcountry residents were in favor of it. The final vote was not even close, and the convention meeting in Charleston voted 149 to 73 for ratification of the United States Constitution.