[rbarnes01]

> A history exam might ask a question like "When was the US Constitution ratified?" Suppose you pick answer "(a) 1776". Then you look at the answer key and you see that the correct answer was actually "(b) 1789".

Wasn't the constitution ratified in 1788?

[toast0]

The Constitution was ratified by state's conventions in 1787, 1788, 1789, and 1790. The convention of the ninth state (New Hampshire) ratified on June 21, 1788.

However, the operation of the Constitution didn't commence until March 1789 [1] [2]. Prior to that commencement, government still operated under the Articles of Confederation. The question is poorly worded, if they're asking for when the federal government began operating under the Constitution; but it's also poorly worded if they're asking for when the ninth state ratified it.

[1] https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/18/420/ [2] https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep...

[treetalker]

> The question is poorly worded …

That sums up roughly 95% of daily practice in US trials and appeals!

[mdaniel]

Heh, this is the thread I came to see on a submission about the LSAT on HN o/

[ethan_smith]

The Constitution was indeed ratified on June 21, 1788 when New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify it, though it didn't go into effect until March 4, 1789.

[graham2000]

Thanks for the correction! Website should update soon. Changed it to 1788 and I added a shout-out for y'all:

"(p.s. thanks to the smart readers who noticed I initially put the wrong date down, and who also noticed that "ratified" is somewhat indeterminate when it comes to the Constitution. But the real LSAT is unlikely to make those kinds of mistakes; there's only 1 correct answer, and it's definitely correct.)"

Feel free to make pull requests if you notice other errors or have suggestions for improvement: https://github.com/gpdowney/lightweightLSAT