A chronological listing of when each state joined the United States

Each of the fifty United States' constituent entities, known collectively as "states," shares sovereignty with the federal government. Since the federal government and the individual states share power, all U.S. citizens are also citizens of the state in which they currently reside. When referring to their full legal names, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia use the term "commonwealth" instead of "state."

The 50 states make up the main 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. Local matters, such as intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and non-federal road construction and maintenance, are generally 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]

Congress, the federal legislature, is a bicameral body consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and it includes representatives from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 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 Electoral College, the body that chooses the President and Vice President of the United States, grants each state a number of electors equal to the sum of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

It is stated in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution that Congress has the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union. There are now fifty states, up from the original thirteen that existed when the United States was founded in 1776. The new states have been accepted without discrimination. [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 between 1777 and 1781 by ratifying the Articles of Confederation. (A separate table with AoC ratification dates is provided below.) The 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. Each subsequent admission date is a legally binding deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(approved or allowed) Developed from 1   Delaware The Seventh of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Colonial Delaware[b]. 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Tuesday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut Sunday, January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, the Royal Colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Royal Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Maryland Colony was a colonial possession. 8   Colony State of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   Primarily Used in: New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under the Rule of the British Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the British Empire 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Colony 12   The state of North Carolina1 On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   Providence, Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) The Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a British colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (Kentucky is represented by nine counties in Virginia) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Southwestern Acreage 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Northwest Territories (portion of) 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Louisiane's Territories 19   Indiana Tuesday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) Situated in the state of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) Land Located in the State of Mississippi 21   Illinois Monday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Area of Illinois 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri Monday, August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Part of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan On this day in 1837, January 26 [28]
(admitted) Geographical Region of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) In the Florida Panhandle 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) The State of Texas as a Separate Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Portion of Wisconsin 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Mexican Cession [g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon Earlier today, on February 14th, 1859
(admitted) The State of Oregon and Adjacent Areas 34   Kansas Tuesday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) An Area of Kansas 35   Mountain State of West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Forty-five counties in the Greater Pittsburgh Area in Virginia. 36   Nevada October 31st, 1864
(admitted) Locale of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) In the Colorado Territory1 39   State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Area Including the State of Dakota 40   A State in the Midwestern U.S. On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Region of Dakota 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington The Eleventh Day of November, 1889 [42]
(admitted) Washington State 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Locale of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Places in Wyoming 45   Utah It all started on this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) Location: Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico A Date: January 6, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona As of today (14 February 1912)
(admitted) Territory of Arizona 49   Alaska The date January 3, 1959
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Island

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. On March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation became active after being ratified by all 13 states. It was on March 4, 1789, that the Articles of Confederation were formally dissolved and the present Federal Constitution came into effect. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Dated: 12-16-1777 2 To the South 05 Février 1778 3 New York Dated: February 6th, 1778 4 Here in Rhode Island Tuesday, February 9, 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia As of today (26 February) in 1778 7 The state of New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Carolina del Norte April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey Tuesday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Starting on February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland Monday, February 2, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• Included in the "Compromise of 1850" set of legislative acts was a provision for California's entry into the Union.
• The years 1854–1861, just before Kansas became a state, were marked by a string of violent conflicts in the Kansas 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.
• The Oklahoma Enabling Act granted 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. It also granted the people of the New Mexico and Arizona Territories the same right. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be combined into one state.
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• Title: "Videos of the 50 States of the USA" History com
• When a country or territory was established as a nation. 50states com