American state membership timeline

One of the 50 individual entities that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government is known as a state. Due to the separation of powers that exists in the United States, each individual citizen has dual citizenship: that of the federal republic and the state in which they currently reside. (First) the full official names of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

The 50 states make up the main divisions of the USA. They have all the authority that isn't given to or taken away by the federal government in 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 senators and representatives from all 50 states. Each state has two senators and at least one representative, with the size of each state's delegation in the House of Representatives determined by the 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 responsible for choosing the President and Vice President of the United States, is equal to the sum of its congressional deputies. [4]

The Constitution specifies that Congress has the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. Since its inception in 1776, the United States has grown from its original 13 colonies to its current 50 states. All newly admitted states are treated on par with the others. [5]

The table below details the dates of statehood for each of the fifty US states. 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.) 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 state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
acceptance or approval Originating from 1   Delaware This day in 1787, on the 7th of December, [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) Kingdom of New Jersey 4   Georgia As of today, January 2nd, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Former British Crown Colony in the South 5   Connecticut Monday, January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) The Connecticut Colony, a British Crown Colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Maryland Colony as a Colonial Possession 8   Specifically, the state of South Carolina1. May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of New Hampshire, a British Crown Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) "New York, the Crown Colony" 12   Carolina del Norte Thursday, November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) Originally, North Carolina was a British colony. 13   This is the state of Rhode Island1. May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, British Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) Democratic Socialist State 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) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) North West Territories, Segment 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Located in the Orleans Territory 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi On this day in 1817, December 10 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) State of Illinois, Part 22   Alabama As of today, December 14th, 1819 [24]
(admitted) Locales in Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) (Maine F District) Massachusetts 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Geographical Region Including Arkansas 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Affirmative: The Republic of Texas1 29   Iowa Sunday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Piece of Wisconsin Territory 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico[g]. 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon The 14th of February, 1859
(admitted) Piece of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas The 29th of January, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   A state located in western Virginia. June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) States of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Territory of Nebraska 38   Colorado As of today, August 1, 1876 [37]
(admitted) This is Colorado Country. 39   Dakota Dunes State On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   "South Dakota1" This day in 1889, November [38][i]
(admitted) The Dakotas, or a Portion of It 41   Montana Earlier this week, on November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Location: Montana 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) Located in Washington State 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho, or the 'Idah 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah It all started on this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) State of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Both Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) Land of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Hawaii, a Territorial State

Times 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. Following ratification by the required 13 states, the Articles of Confederation entered into force on March 1, 1781. The current federal government under the Constitution replaced the general government under the Articles on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Saturday, December 16th, 1777 2 Citing South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York Sunday, February 6th, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island Dated: February 9th, 1778 5 Connecticut Tuesday, February 12, 1778 6 Georgia Sunday, February 26th, 1778 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 It's in the Tar Heel State, or North Carolina. April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Initially, on February 1, 1779 13 Maryland The Date Is February 2, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• The admission of California to the Union was a part of the Compromise of 1850, a set of legislative acts passed by Congress.
• 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.
• 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 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 organize a state government and seek admission to the Union. calling for a vote to decide whether or not the two areas should be united as one state.
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska officially joined the Union as a result of the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• "Birth dates of nations" 50states com