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

An American state is one of the 50 individual entities that, along with the federal government, makes up the United States' total sovereign territory. Because of the separation of powers that exists in the United States, citizens of the federal republic are also citizens of the state in which they currently reside. [1]The full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word commonwealth rather than state.

The fifty states constitute the most basic administrative divisions of the USA. All authority not specifically delegated to the federal government or forbidden to the states by the United States Constitution is vested in them. 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. Each of the fifty states has a government that consists of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch, all of which are established by a constitution based on republican principles. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of senators and representatives from all 50 states. There are two senators for every state and at least one representative, 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. Furthermore, the Electoral College, the body that elects the President and Vice President of the United States, allows each state to choose a number of electors to vote in the election proportional to the number of its representatives and senators in Congress. [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]

Below is a table detailing the official statehood dates for each of the fifty United States' jurisdictions. After signing on to the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states formally entered the Union of States in the years 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 state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(acknowledged or confirmed) Developed from 1   Delaware It was the 7th of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania Tuesday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) State of Pennsylvania as a Private Colony 3   New Jersey 18 December 1787 [11]
(ratified) Kingdom of New Jersey 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut The 9th of January, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Boston, Massachusetts, a Royal Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Province of South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a British Crown Colony. 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Commonwealth of Virginia, British Dominions 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) Kingdom of New York 12   State of North Carolina1 Today in 1789: November 21 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   It's in Rhode Island1. May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Kingdom of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) It's a republic in 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) Lands to the West of the Mississippi 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) France's Orleans Territory 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) Those Parts of the United States That Are Currently Cal 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) State of Illinois, Part 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) (Maine F District) Massachusetts 24   Missouri It was August 10th, 1821. [26]
(admitted) The Missouri Territory, Part 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Its Namesake State of Arkansas 26   Michigan On this day in 1837, January 26th: [28]
(admitted) Territory of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Sunday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) Specifically, the portion of Iowa's territory that is called 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Piece of Wisconsin Territory 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Ungoverned regions / Mexican Cession (part)[g]. 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) It's true that Oregon only makes up a portion of the territory. 34   Kansas The Day That Began the Year 1861, January 29 [33]
(admitted) A Section of Kansas 35   We're in the Mountain State. June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) 50 counties in the state of Virginia that are located in the Trans-Allegheny region. 36   Nevada October 31st, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado Time Period: 1876-08-01 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Area 39   In the state of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) South Dakota Section 40   Dakota (State) Tuesday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) South Dakota Section 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 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) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah Day of the Year 1896: 4th January [43]
(admitted) Locale of Utah 46   Oklahoma The Date Is Tuesday, November 16, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Locations in Indian Territory and Oklahoma 47   New Mexico The sixth of January, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska As of this date in 1959:
(admitted) Anchorage, Alaska 50   Hawaii The Day That Changed Everything: August 21, 1959
(admitted) Oahu, Hawaii

Dates of ratification of the articles of confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved for submission to state legislatures for ratification by the Second Continental Congress. After being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation became effective on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation were abolished and replaced by the present Constitutional government on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this date in 1777, December 16 2 Carolina del Sur On this day in 1778, February 5 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 State of Rhode Island Earlier today, on February 9th, 1778, 5 Connecticut Day of the Frog, 12 February, 1778 6 Georgia The 26th of February, 1778 7 To 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 Dated: November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware On this day in 1779: February 1 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 set of legislative acts passed by Congress.
• 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.
• The Enabling Act of 1889 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 to 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 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 united as a state.
• Act of Statehood for Alaska, formally admitting that state to the Union as of January 3, 1959

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

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

• Videos of the 50 United States History com
• Definition of Terms: "Date of Statehood" 50states com