<P> Article Five ends by shielding certain clauses in the new frame of government from being amended . Article One, Section 9, Clauses 1 prevents Congress from passing any law that would restrict the importation of slaves into the United States prior to 1808, plus the fourth clause from that same section, which reiterates the Constitutional rule that direct taxes must be apportioned according state populations . These clauses were explicitly shielded from Constitutional amendment prior to 1808 . On January 1, 1808, the first day it was permitted to do so, Congress approved legislation prohibiting the importation of slaves into the country . On February 3, 1913, with ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment, Congress gained the authority to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states or basing it on the United States Census . The third textually entrenched provision is Article One, Section 3, Clauses 1, which provides for equal representation of the states in the Senate . The shield protecting this clause from the amendment process is less absolute--"no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate"--but permanent . </P> <P> Article Six establishes the Constitution, and all federal laws and treaties of the United States made according to it, to be the supreme law of the land, and that "the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, any thing in the laws or constitutions of any state notwithstanding ." It validates national debt created under the Articles of Confederation and requires that all federal and state legislators, officers, and judges take oaths or affirmations to support the Constitution . This means that the states' constitutions and laws should not conflict with the laws of the federal constitution and that in case of a conflict, state judges are legally bound to honor the federal laws and constitution over those of any state . Article Six also states "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States ." </P> <P> Article Seven describes the process for establishing the proposed new frame of government . Anticipating that the influence of many state politicians would be Antifederalist, delegates to the Philadelphia Convention provided for ratification of the Constitution by popularly elected ratifying conventions in each state . The convention method also made it possible that judges, ministers and others ineligible to serve in state legislatures, could be elected to a convention . Suspecting that Rhode Island, at least, might not ratify, delegates decided that the Constitution would go into effect as soon as nine states (two - thirds rounded up) ratified . Once ratified by this minimum number of states, it was anticipated that the proposed Constitution would become this Constitution between the nine or more that signed . It would not cover the four or fewer states that might not have signed . </P> <P> The Signing of the United States Constitution occurred on September 17, 1787 when 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention endorsed the constitution created during the convention . In addition to signatures, this closing endorsement, the Constitution's eschatocol, included a brief declaration that the delegates' work has been successfully completed and that those whose signatures appear on it subscribe to the final document . Included are, a statement pronouncing the document's adoption by the states present, a formulaic dating of its adoption, and the signatures of those endorsing it . Additionally, the convention's secretary, William Jackson, signed the document to authenticate the validity of the delegate signatures . He also made a few secretarial notes . </P>

How many states had to ratify the constitution for the new government to go into effect