A chronological listing of when each state joined the United States

A state is one of the fifty individual entities that together make up the United States of America and share sovereignty with the federal government. The United States is a federal republic in which the powers of the federal government and the individual states are equally balanced. This results in dual citizenship for all Americans. [1]The full official names of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word commonwealth rather than state.

The 50 states are the main administrative divisions in the USA. They have all the authority that is not specifically given to or forbidden to the federal government by the United States Constitution. Concerns such as intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and non-federal road construction and maintenance fall under the purview of state governments. In a republican system of government, each individual state has its own constitution outlining the roles of the executive, legislature, and judiciary. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, from which citizens of all 50 states and the District of Columbia can elect their own representatives. There are two senators for every state and at least one representative, with the size of a state's delegation in the House based on its population as determined by the most recent decennial census required by the Constitution. In addition, the number of electors a state can choose to represent it in the Electoral College, the body responsible for choosing the President and Vice President of the United States, is equal to the sum of its congressional deputies. [4]

The Constitution clearly states that Congress has the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. The original 13 states of the United States have since been joined by another 33, bringing the total to 50. Each newly admitted state has been given full voting rights alongside the rest. [5]

Below is a table with information about when each of the 50 states became independent. After signing on to the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states formally entered the Union of States in the years between 1777 and 1781 by ratifying the Articles of Confederation. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) States are listed in the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed (and still existing) federal government. For each succeeding state, the enacted date of admission is shown. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
Accepted or confirmed Produced by 1   Delaware Tuesday, December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) The state of Delaware as a colony[b]. 2   Pennsylvania Sunday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Yesterday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) The New Jersey Colony, a Crown Colony 4   Georgia On this day in 1788, January [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Colonial Maryland 8   To the South May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   Primarily Used in: New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a British Crown Colony. 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the British Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Colony of the Crown 12   Carolina del Norte The date November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) Colonial North Carolina, a Crown Colony 13   Specifically, the state of Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a Colony of the British Crown 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (9 counties in its District in Kentucky[d]) Virginia. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Area Known as Orleans 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) This is Indiana State 20   Mississippi As of today, December 10th, 1817 [22]
(admitted) Location of the Mississippi River and Its Surrounding Lands 21   Illinois The date is December 3rd, 1818. [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama On this day in 1819, December 14 [24]
(admitted) Its own separate jurisdiction, the State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri Wednesday, August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Region of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) State of Arkansas 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Tuesday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texas Confederate States 29   Iowa Monday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Piece of Wisconsin Territory 31   California Date: September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Partial Minnesota Territory 33   Oregon Monday, February 14, 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas The Day That Began the Year 1861, January 29 [33]
(admitted) Part of Kansas Territory 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) West Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area[h]) 36   Nevada As of today, October 31, 1864
(admitted) Places in Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Its Name for the State of Nebraska 38   Colorado Time Period: 1876-08-01 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   We're in North Dakota1. Monday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) The Dakotas, or a Portion of It 40   Dakota (State) The date of November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Partial Dakota Territory 41   Montana Thursday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington Tuesday, November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) Territory of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) In the state of Wyoming. 45   Utah Thursday, January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma It was on November 16th, 1907, that the first American [44]
(admitted) This is Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory. 47   New Mexico Day One, 1912: January 6
(admitted) An Area Now Part of New Mexico 48   Arizona On this day in 1912, February 14th,
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska The Third of January, 1959
(admitted) The Alaskan Territories 50   Hawaii Day of the Moon, August 21, 1959
(admitted) Hawai'ian Acquired Territory

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress and sent to the individual states for ratification. After being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation were abolished on March 4, 1789, and the present federal government under the Constitution took their place. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Monday, December 16th, 1777 2 Citing South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York Tuesday, February 6th, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island Friday, February 9, 1778 5 Connecticut On this day in 1778 — February 12 — 6 Georgia Dated: February 26th, 1778 7 Element: New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Here in good ol' NC April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey This day in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware Time Period: January 1, 1779 to February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland Two-Fourths of February, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• One of the acts included in the "Compromise of 1850" legislative package guaranteed that California would be admitted to the Union.
• During the years 1854–1861, when Kansas was still considered part of the territory rather than a state, a series of violent conflicts broke out in the territory between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups.
• In 1889, Congress passed the Enabling Act, which allowed the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories to organize themselves politically as states and apply for admission to the Union.
• Statehood for Oklahoma and Indian Territory Citizens Act; New Mexico and Arizona Admission Act; and the Oklahoma Enabling Act, which granted statehood to Oklahoma and Indian Territory citizens and admitted the new state to the Union as a whole. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be combined into one state.
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska was officially admitted to the Union as a result of the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com