An orderly list of the U.S. states' admission to the Union

One of the fifty entities that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government is a state. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. To distinguish themselves from other states, the official names of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

The 50 states are the most basic administrative divisions of the USA. They have all the authority that isn't given to or restricted to the federal government. In most cases, local concerns are delegated to the respective state governments, which are tasked with regulating things like intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and the construction and maintenance of roads that are not funded by the federal government. Every state has its own government, with its own constitution and set of laws based on republican principles. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and it is comprised of representatives from all 50 states and their citizens. Two senators and one representative are guaranteed to each state by the Constitution; the number of representatives each state has in the House of Representatives is determined by the population of the state as of the most recent decennial census. There's also the Electoral College, which votes for the President and Vice President of the United States, of which each state gets a certain number of representatives and senators to represent it. [4]

The power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union is delegated to Congress by Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. 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]

The table below details the dates of statehood for all fifty US states. In July 1776, upon agreeing to the United States Declaration of Independence, the first 13 colonies became states; between 1777 and 1781, they ratified the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, and became full members of the Union. (A separate table with dates of AoC ratification is provided below.) 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
(approved or permitted) Produced by 1   Delaware Monday, December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) The state of Delaware as a colony[b]. 2   Pennsylvania Wednesday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Dated: December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former Crown Colony 4   Georgia On this day in 1788, January 2 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut 9 January 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachussetts 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) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   Specifically, the state of New Hampshire1. June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Province of New Hampshire under the British Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the Crown 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) Originally, North Carolina was a British colony. 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Province of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) Democratic Socialist State of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (Kentucky is represented by nine counties in Virginia) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Territory to the Southwest 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) A section of the Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Province of Orleans 19   Indiana Sunday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi During the early hours of the morning of December 10th, 1817 [22]
(admitted) This is Mississippi Country. 21   Illinois When: Wednesday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Specifically, the area of Illinois that is now known as the territory of 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri Thursday, August 10th, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Region of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Locale of Arkansas 26   Michigan Sunday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The Florida Peninsula 28   Texas Friday, December 29, 1845 [29]
(admitted) TX Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846, December
(admitted) This portion of Iowa Territory is known as: 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) This is a section of Wisconsin. 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Lack of Government in the Lands Adjoining Mexico (Part)[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) Part of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   It's in West Virginia1. June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada Observed on October 31st, 1864
(admitted) It's in Nevada! 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Its Name for the State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Area 39   The Great Land of North Dakota1 Wednesday, November 2nd, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Specifically the Dakota Territory. 40   An Acronym for South Dakota1 Dated: November 2nd, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Territory of Montana 42   Washington It all started on November 11th, 1889. [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) It's the state of Idaho. 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah On this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Territories of Oklahoma and Indians in Oklahoma 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) Arizona Territory 49   Alaska Day of the Year: January 3, 1959
(admitted) Region of Alaska 50   Hawaii Today in History (August 21st, 1959)
(admitted) Hawaiian Home Islands

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. After being ratified by the required 13 states, the Articles of Confederation became effective on March 1, 1781. The current federal government, established by the Constitution, succeeded the general government under the Articles on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777 2 Colony State of South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York Adopted: February 6th, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island Sunday, February 9, 1778 5 Connecticut Monday, February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia 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 Earlier today, on November 19th, 1778, 12 Delaware On this day in 1779, February 1: 13 Maryland This day in 1781, on February 2nd,

See also [ edit ]

• It was included in the Compromise of 1850, a set of legislative acts passed by Congress, that California was finally admitted to the Union.
• During the years of 1854–1861, when Kansas was still considered part of the territory of Kansas, a series of violent conflicts broke out between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups, earning the region the nickname "Bleeding Kansas."
• This was made possible by the Enabling Act of 1889, which gave the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the right to organize themselves into states (with Dakota being split into two separate states) and 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 gain admission to the Union as a single state. The New Mexico and Arizona Admission Act did the same for the people of those territories. calling for a vote on whether or not the two jurisdictions should be merged into one state.
• Act of Statehood for Alaska, formally admitting that state to the Union as of January 3, 1959

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• Videos Relating to Individual U.S. States History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com