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. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. As for the full official names, [1]Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all use the term commonwealth rather than 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. 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, 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]

Congress has the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union per Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. A total of 50 states now make up the United States, up from the original 13. All newly admitted states have been given full voting rights. [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. Ratification dates for the AoC are listed in a separate table below.) [6] These states are listed in the order in which they joined the new (and current) federal government upon ratification of the Constitution in 1787. Each subsequent admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
approved of or allowed in Composed of 1   Delaware Specifically: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania As of today (12 December 1787) [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Empire of the Crown: Georgia 5   Connecticut Dated: January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Earlier this year, on February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Province of Massachusetts Bay, a British Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) English: South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   Primarily Used in: New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal New Hampshire Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Royal Colony and Dominion 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) Province of New York under the Crown 12   Carolina del Norte Tuesday, November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) Colony of the British Crown in North Carolina 13   Place Name: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) A total of nine counties in the Commonwealth of Virginia's District in the state of Kentucky[d]. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) State located in the South-Western part of the United 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) A Portion of the Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) New Orleans Area 19   Indiana On this day in 1816 (December 11)
(admitted) Its Location: The Indiana Territory1 20   Mississippi The date was December 10, 1817. [22]
(admitted) This is Mississippi Country. 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Section of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama The 14th of December, 1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) State of Massachusetts (Maine(f) District). 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) This is Arkansas State 26   Michigan Thursday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Those Parts of the United States That Are Currently 28   Texas Monday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa Tuesday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) Partial Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Portion of Wisconsin Territory 31   California The Nineteenth Day of September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) A portion of the Mexican Cession that is disorganized[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Split off of Minnesota 33   Oregon Sunday, February 14th, 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) The State of Kansas, or Part of It 35   State of West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area[h]). 36   Nevada On this day in 1864, October 31st,
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Expansion of the Nebraska Territory1 38   Colorado Time Period: 1876-08-01 [37]
(admitted) The State of Colorado 39   It's in North Dakota1. The date of November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   A State in the Midwestern U.S. On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Partial Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Montana, the Wild West 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) It's in Wyoming! 45   Utah Monday, January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) This is Utah Country. 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) Places in New Mexico that Are Not in Texas 48   Arizona On this day in 1912, February 14th,
(admitted) Location: Arizona 49   Alaska The date was January 3, 1959.
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Today in History (August 21st, 1959)
(admitted) Hawai'ian Acquired Territory

Times of Articles of Confederation ratification [ 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 current federal government, established under the Constitution, succeeded the general government under the Articles on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Sunday, December 16th, 1777 2 A State in the Southeastern United States Five of February, 1778 3 New York Sixteen years ago today, on February 6th, 1778 4 This is the state of Rhode Island. 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut Tuesday, February 12, 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 The State of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey It's the 19th of November in the year 1778. 12 Delaware Initially, on February 1, 1779 13 Maryland Sunday, February 2nd, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• As part of the legislative package known as the "Compromise of 1850," California's incorporation into the Union was guaranteed.
• 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.
• 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 New Mexico and Arizona the right to do the same. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be combined into one state.
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became a member of the United States of America thanks to the passage of the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Linked external resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• Dates of statehood 50states com