A chronological listing of when each state joined the United States

One of the fifty entities that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government is a state. Due to the separation of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. Unlike other states, [1]Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all have "commonwealth" in their official state names.

In the United States, the individual states are the most basic political entities. 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]

Congress, the federal legislature, is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and all states and their citizens have a voice there. Two senators and at least one representative are assigned to each state, with the size of a 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]

The Constitution specifically gives Congress the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. 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]

Below is a table with information about when each of the 50 states became independent. When they signed on to the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the original 13 states officially became sovereign nations; between 1777 and 1781, they ratified the Articles of Confederation to form the first United States of America constitution. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) The order in which these states are listed reflects the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed (and still existing) United States of America. After that, each subsequent state's admission date is a legally binding statute. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
acceptance or approval Developed from 1   Delaware Sunday, December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 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 Starting on January 2nd, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut Monday, 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) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Citing South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Colonial South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   Specifically, the State of 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, Royal Colony and Dominated State 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, the "Crown Colony" 12   Purpose: The State of North Carolina1 On this day in 1789, November 21st, [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   A Place Called Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) There is a republic in Vermont. 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (Kentucky is represented by nine counties in Virginia) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Part of the Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Instance created: 10 December, 1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois The date was December 3rd, 1818. [23]
(admitted) Region of Illinois 22   Alabama This day in 1819, on December 14 [24]
(admitted) In the State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) New England (Maine(f) District) Massachusetts 24   Missouri On this day in 1821, August 10 [26]
(admitted) Section of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) This is Arkansas State 26   Michigan It's the 26th of January, 1837. [28]
(admitted) Specifically, the State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) This is Florida Country. 28   Texas Saturday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) The State of Texas as a Democratic Republic 29   Iowa Last Updated: 28 December, 1846
(admitted) Piece of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Portion of Wisconsin Territory 31   California Date: September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Disordered Lands / The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Section of Minnesota Territory 33   Oregon The 14th of February, 1859
(admitted) Portions of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) The Commonwealth of Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area[h]). 36   Nevada When October 31st, 1864 rolled around,
(admitted) Land of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Frontier State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   Geographical Location: North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Region of Dakota 40   State of South Dakota1 This day in 1889, November [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Dated: November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) A Place Called Montana 42   Washington When: November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Wyoming, the State 45   Utah On this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) It's the State of Utah 46   Oklahoma Dated: November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Locations in Indian Territory and Oklahoma 47   New Mexico Sunday, January 6th, 1912
(admitted) An Area Now Part of New Mexico 48   Arizona The date February 14th, 1912
(admitted) In the Territory of Arizona 49   Alaska Three days into 1959
(admitted) Arctic Alaskan Territories 50   Hawaii Monday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Oahu, Hawaii

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On this day in 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 On this day in 1777 2 The State of South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 Providence, Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut Dated: February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia Monday, February 26th, 1778 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 State of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey On this day in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware Starting on February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 1781.

See also [ edit ]

• The admission of California to the Union was a part of the "Compromise of 1850," a collection of legislative acts passed by Congress.
• A series of bloody conflicts between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups occurred in Kansas Territory between 1854 and 1861, a period known as "Bleeding Kansas."
• 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 gave the people of Oklahoma and the Indian Territory the legal 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 ]

Connecting to the Outside World: Some Useful Resources [ edit ]

• U.S. State Videos History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com