The US Constitution, as drafted in 1787, consolidated a significant amount of power into a central government. This consolidation of power, and the subsequent loss of individual state's rights, was opposed by a Rhode Island General Assembly that was dominated by the anti-Federalist Country Party. Eleven attempts to convene a ratification convention were blocked by the General Assembly. Instead, a popular referendum was held, and by a vote of 2708 to 237, the people of Rhode Island rejected the US Constitution.
Between March 1st and March 6th, 1790 - almost a year after George Washington was inaugerated as the first president - the Country Party held a ratification convention at the King County Courthouse in Kingston, Rhode Island. Built in 1775, the Courthouse is the subject of today's photo. What makes today's image significant is that it is the location of Rhode Island's final vote to reject the US Constitution. On March 6, 1790, in this building, the sovereign nation of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations refused to join the United States. Final ratification, and Rhode Island's ultimate entry into the union came on May 29th, when - in true Rhode Island fashion - four anti-federalists were excluded from the vote. Ratification succeeded by a vote of 34-32, the narrowest margin of any state.
Post-processing started in Photoshop today. To get the photo, I had to use a 10mm wide-angle lens. Using Photoshop, I was able to eliminate the paralax that skews the sides of a building shot at 10mm. From there, I used Topaz Adjust to pop the color, a bit. Back in Photoshop, I added a copper gradient map, then adjusted the hue and saturation slightly to tone it down. A couple of levels adjustments were added, and finally a blue photo filter and a light sandstone background texture were added to produce the effect you see.
