History Discussion: New York State's Debate on the Ratification of the U.S. Constitution with Judge Albert Rosenblatt

From 1660 until 1776, New York was a colony of England ruled by King George III. People considered themselves English and were subjects of the Crown, but they had no voice. In the 1770s their grievances reached the point of rebellion, and on the fourth of July 1776, they proclaimed themselves free of England in the Declaration of Independence. They had lived under the weak Articles of Confederation for about a decade, and in 1787, they drafted the United States Constitution. In 1788, Dutchess County played a significant role in New York’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution, which took place in Poughkeepsie, the state's capital at the time.