In September of 1787 the Constitution was complete and ready for ratification; almost, gratification means to make something official by signing it, or voting for it and to ratify the Constitution and make it the Supreme Law of the Land, nine of the thirteen states had to approve of it, in the end; it took more than a year and a half to get 11 states to ratify, and nearly two and a half years to get all 13 to ratify. During this time two opposing groups emerged: the Federalists and the anti-federalists. The Federalists were in favor of ratification, they felt the Constitution was already complete as it was, and we're in favor of a strong central or national government to keep the country running smoothly. The Federalists were mostly wealthy businessmen living in large trading cities along the coast, they included the founding fathers Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, and John Marshall. They explained how the Constitution would work by publishing a series of newspaper articles known as the "Federalist Papers", under the false name "Publius" the anti-federalists were against ratification of the Constitution they feared a strong central government would be too much like a King, and wanted a Bill of Rights to be added to the Constitution, that would guarantee people the freedoms they had fought so hard for in the Revolution, they were less organized than the federalists and consisted of common people living in both the cities and the countryside, some of the better-known anti-federalists include: John Adams, Samuel Adams, George Clinton and Patrick Henry at this time only Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut had voted in favor giving the Constitution only five of the nine states needed to ratify. The Federalists realized that to get the other states to ratify they were going to have to add a Bill of Rights, after promising the addition of the Bill of Rights Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire cast their votes with 9 out of 13 states on board the Constitution wasn't ratified for the entire country, but did go into effect in those nine states at this point the two biggest and most economically important states had yet to ratify Virginia, and New York. George Washington, Edmund Randolph, and James Madison worked hard to convince Virginia to ratify, while Alexander Hamilton set his sights on New York a few months later in the summer of 1788, Virginia and New York officially voted to ratify the Constitution, bringing the count to 11, so North Carolina, and Rhode Island eventually came around, with 11 out of 13 states the Constitution was ratified and became the Supreme Law of the Land. Let's review the Federalists were for ratification, they felt the Constitution was complete, and they were for strong central government, usually they were wealthy businessmen, in contrast the anti-federalists were against ratification, they were afraid of a strong central government, and wanted a bill of rights they were mostly common people. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, and John Marshall were all Federalists. John Adams, Samuel Adams, George Clinton, and Patrick Henry were all anti-federalist. in the end the anti-federalists one won out and a Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution.