In contrast to the Supreme Court, which was established by Article III of the Constitution, the district courts were established by Congress under the Judiciary Act of 1789. There is no constitutional requirement that district courts exist at all. Indeed, after the ratification of the Constitution, some opponents of a strong federal judiciary urged that, outside jurisdictions under direct federal control, like Washington, D.C., and the territories, the federal court system be limited to the Supreme Court, which would hear appeals from state courts. This view did not prevail, however, and the first Congress created the district court system that is still in place today. When the Act was first passed, there were thirteen districts created among the eleven states which had ratified the constitution by that point. When North Carolina and Rhode Island voted to ratify, a district was created for each of them bringing the number of districts to fifteen.