Chris Calle (B. 1961) "New York Statehood" Original Mixed Media painting on Illustration Board. Signed lower right. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood Maximum Card for the U.S. 25c New York Statehood stamp issued July 26, 1988. In the state of New York, the Anti-Federalists had done a good job of organizing and, but for the timing of their convention, they might have won the vote and kept New York out of the new United States. Thanks to machinery set in motion by the powerful Governor George Clinton and his associates, the Anti-Federalists found a receptiveness to their point of view in New York. There, articles appeared in newspapers against, as well as for, the Constitution, and the opinions and viewpoints of "Cato," "Brutus," "Sidney," and "A Republican" were immortalized in print. In February, a committee of seven Anti-Federalists organized in Albany to help manage the elections of delegates to the state convention. They corresponded with other New York Anti-Federalists, wrote articles for the newspapers, and distributed pamphlets. When the convention convened in Poughkeepsie in the summer of 1788, the vast majority of delegates were opposed to ratification. But soon the news arrived that New Hampshire and Virginia had ratified, and the delegates realized that a failure to ratify now would leave New York outside of an already-existing Union. Aaron Burr put it succinctly, stating that, "after the adoption by ten states, I think it became both politic and necessary that we should also adopt it (the Constitution)." New York ratified the Constitution on July 26, 1788, the eleventh state to do so. Image Size: 15 x 17.75 in. Overall Size: 19 x 23.25 in. Unframed. (B11694)