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Part 1: The Constitution is Kill

“It can not be known whether or not John Hancock’s presence at the Massachusetts ratification convention would have resulted in ratification by Massachusetts and thus a probable success of the Constitution. However, an aspiring alternate history author could certainly connect those dots. John Hancock's period of illness is certainly one of the most significant illnesses of early American history.”

-Historian Tom Bradly, author of “Disunited States: How the Constitution was not ratified”


“When I received word of Massachusetts’ refusal to ratify my fears for the union mounted. When Virginia followed suit I knew my dreams for a glorious Union were dead.”

-Alexander Hamilton, President of the Republic of New York


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Events in 1788:

On February 3rd the ratification convention of Massachusetts voted by a razor thin margin of 179-176 to not ratify the new Constitution of the United States. John Hancock, the president of the convention, was not present for the vote due to health complications caused by gout. He had intended to be present at the convention by January 30th and yet the gout that plagued him all his life did not allow it. It is unknown what position Hancock would have taken and perhaps his presence may have resulted in ratification or a higher margin for the Anti-Federalists.


Caption: Portrait of John Hancock, the 1st Governor of Massachusetts and the man who’s gout may have killed the Constitution



The Constitution had faced a first major test and came out defeated. Massachusetts, Virginia, and New York were all large states with incredibly close ratification conventions and one had rejected the constitution. The conventions in Virginia and New York already looked like they would be highly contentious and Massachusetts failure to ratify gave the momentum to the Anti-Federalists.

Following the Massachusetts convention the Federalists scored minor victories in Maryland (60-14) and South Carolina (147-75). This brought the total number of states that ratified up to 7 but the largest battle would be the upcoming Virginia and New York conventions. On June 2nd and 7th, the conventions began for those states and they were going to be incredibly competitive. On June 21st New Hampshire became another state to reject the new Constitution (53-51) due to the influence of the Massachusetts convention.

The consensus at the time was that the Federalists would win but now Anti-Federalist victory seemed likely. With the Virginia convention coming to a close the momentum was clearly on the side of Anti-Federalists and Virginia would essentially make or break the Constitution. Whatever Virginia decided, it was likely New York would follow suit so New York Federalists like Alexander Hamilton and John Jay eagerly waited for any news from Virginia. Both James Madison and Patrick Henry delivered passionate arguments but Henry’s orientation skills won out. Patrick Henry won the debate decisively for the Anti-Federalists when he delivered a speech asking what kind of Union the United States would be under the Constitution.

“The patriots in Massachusetts and New Hampshire have already rightly rejected the Constitution and New York is soon to follow. What kind of Union would we be even if 9 states agree to ratification? Half of the North will be gone and we will have lost the cities of New York and Boston, the birthplace of the revolution. It would be better to be a slightly flawed Union under the Articles than a divided nation under the Constitution.”

Caption: Patrick Henry, a primary Anti-Federalist in Virginia delivering his speech that won the debate for the Anti-Federalists in Virginia. He would also go on to become a president of the Commonwealth of Virginia


In the end, Virginia followed the example of Massachusetts with a vote of 86-82 and became the second large state to reject the Constitution.

New York’s ratification convention was already incredibly close and Virginia’s rejection was the nail in the coffin for the Federalist cause. On July 26th, New York voted 31-26 to reject the Constitution and thus 3 large states rejected the Constitution.

North Carolina had voted to neither approve or reject the Constitution but the delegates voted again and rejected the Constitution (147-124) due to the unlikelihood of Federalist success. 5 states had rejected the Constitution so it was now mathematically impossible for the total to reach 9, and it was likely Rhode Island would become the 6th rejection. Rhode Island held an emergency session of the ratification convention in order to get the matter over with. On November 2nd, Rhode Island voted 59-7 to reject the Constitution, the largest margin of any state. The final tally was 7 states for and 6 against, meaning the Constitution was dead.


Caption: Map of the ratification debate. Blue represents states that ratified the Constitution while red states did not ratify.

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POD: In real life, John Hancock was able to attend the ratification convention of MA even though he missed a lot of it due to gout. His support for the Constitution and his idea of ratifying the Constitution on the condition that certain amendments were made is part of why the Federalists won in Massachusetts. So in this timeline, his period of illness has been extended making him unable to attend the convention. This then has all the consequences outlined in this part.
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