A chronological listing of when each state joined the United States

Each of the 50 states in the United States is a sovereign nation in its own right and shares power with the federal government. Due to the division of power between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. [1]In their official state names, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Commonwealth of Virginia use the term commonwealth rather than state.

The 50 states are the main administrative divisions of 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. Republican principles form the basis for each state's constitution and government, which is made up of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, both of which have members elected by the citizens of their respective states. There are two senators and at least one representative from each state, with the size of each state's delegation in the House of Representatives determined by that state's population as of 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 that votes for President and Vice President, is equal to the sum of the number of representatives and senators from that state in Congress. [4]

Constitutional law states that Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 gives Congress the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states to the Union. There are now fifty states, up from the original thirteen that existed when the United States was founded in 1776. All newly admitted states have been given full voting rights. [5]

Here's a handy table with all 50 states and the days they 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. (The dates of AoC ratification are listed in a separate table below.) These states are listed in the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed and currently functioning federal government. Each subsequent admission date is a legally binding deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(approved by allowing it to stand) Shaped by 1   Delaware On this day in 1787, December 7 [8]
(ratified) Colonial Delaware[b]. 2   Pennsylvania It was on December 12th, 1787, that the Declaration of Independence was signed. [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Wednesday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) Kingdom of New Jersey 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Colonial possession of the British Crown in the American Colony of Georgia 5   Connecticut Sunday, January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay, a Royal Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   In the state of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Province of South Carolina under the Crown 9   In the state of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony of the Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) The New York Crown Colony 12   The State of North Carolina1 Dated: November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former Crown colony 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Providence Plantations and the State of Rhode Island and Connecticut, British North America 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) People's Republic of Vermont[c] 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (The Commonwealth of Kentucky[d] has a District in Virginia that encompasses nine counties.) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Area of the Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) Its Location: The Indiana Territory1 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois On this day, December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Piece of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri Wednesday, August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Arkansas State 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Michigan State 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) An Area Including Florida 28   Texas Monday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Confederate States of America 29   Iowa Last Updated: 28 December, 1846
(admitted) Specifically, the portion of Iowa's territory that is called 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) State of Wisconsin, Inc. 31   California The Nineteen Fifteenth of September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) The Mexican Cession (Part): An Unorganized Region 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon The date was February 14, 1859.
(admitted) A portion of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Sunday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) Section of Kansas Territory 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) 50 counties in the state of Virginia that are located in the Trans-Allegheny region. 36   Nevada Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado Initially, on August 1st, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Colorado, the Territory 39   That Place Called North Dakota1 Monday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Partial Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) Day of the Dead, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Location: Montana 42   Washington November 11, 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Idaho is a territory in the United States. 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah It all started on this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) Places in Utah 46   Oklahoma The date of November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska Time: Wednesday, January 3, 1959
(admitted) In Alaska's case, this means the territory itself. 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Dates of Articles of Confederation Ratification [ edit ]

On this day in 1777, the Second Continental Congress recommended to the states that they ratify the Articles of Confederation. After being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781. The current federal government, established under the Constitution, succeeded the general government under the Articles on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Saturday, December 16th, 1777 2 Carolina del Sur On this day in 1778, February 5: 3 New York This day in history: February 6th, 1778 4 Location: Rhode Island Tuesday, February 9, 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia This day in 1778, on February 26th, 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Cary, North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey On this day in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware One Day in 1779: February 13 Maryland Sunday, February 2nd, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• The admission of California to the Union was one of the provisions of the Compromise of 1850, a set of congressional acts.
• During the years of 1854–1861, when Kansas was still considered a territory rather than a state, a series of violent conflicts broke out in the territory between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups.
• The Enabling Act of 1889 gave the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the legal right to organize themselves into states (with Dakota being split into two separate states) and to apply for admission to the Union.
• The Oklahoma Enabling Act gave the people of Oklahoma and the Indian Territory the right to organize a state government and seek admission to the Union as a single state. The New Mexico and Arizona Admission Acts did the same for the people of those territories. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be combined into one state.
• The Alaska Statehood Act officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

References outside of the text [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• States' birthdays 50states com