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

For those unfamiliar, a state is one of the 50 individual entities that together make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, all U.S. citizens hold dual citizenship. There are four states (Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) whose official names do not include the word "state," but rather "commonwealth."

The 50 states make up the main divisions of the USA. They have all the authority that isn't specifically given to or forbidden to the federal government. 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 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. In addition, the Electoral College, the body that chooses the President and Vice President of the United States, allows each state to send a number of voters to vote there that is equal to the sum of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

The Constitution specifically gives the Congress the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. There are currently 50 states, up from the original 13. Each newly admitted state is treated on par with the others. [5]

Statehood dates for each of the 50 U.S. states are listed below. 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. (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
(accepted or approved) Formed by 1   Delaware It was the 7th of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania When: Friday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a Crown Colony 4   Georgia This day in 1788, January 2 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a Crown Colony 5   Connecticut Wednesday, January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Day of the Frog, February 6, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   "South Carolina1" May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   That State of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under the Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of Virginia, Dominion of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Colony 12   Carolina del Norte On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) Colony of the British Crown in North Carolina 13   The Ocean State: 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) Nine counties in Virginia's District in Kentucky[d] 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Territory in the Northwest 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana This day in 1816, on December 11
(admitted) Locales in Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois When: Wednesday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Wednesday, December 14, 1819 [24]
(admitted) Located in Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Region of Maine(f): Massachusetts 24   Missouri It was August 10th, 1821. [26]
(admitted) A Section of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Friday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Specifically, the State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The Florida Peninsula 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) An Area of Iowa 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Piece of Wisconsin Territory 31   California The Nineteen Fiftieth Day of September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Region of Minnesota 33   Oregon On this day in 1859, February 14
(admitted) Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) Separate Section of Kansas Territory 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in the state of Virginia that are part of the Trans-Allegheny metropolitan area. 36   Nevada Monday, October 31st, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The State of Colorado 39   The Great Land of North Dakota1 On this day, November 2nd, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   Location: South Dakota1 Monday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) It's a piece of Dakota Territory. 41   Montana Earlier this week, on November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Where We Live Is the Greatest Place on Earth 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) States of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) There is a territory in Idaho. 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah Time: Thursday, January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) UT - Utah Valley 46   Oklahoma On this day in 1907, November 16 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico Saturday, January 6th, 1912
(admitted) Land of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) This is Arizona State Land 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii The date August 21, 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. As of March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation were in effect, having been ratified by all 13 states. The Articles of Confederation were abolished on March 4, 1789, and the current federal government under the Constitution was sworn in. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia It was on December 16th, 1777, that 2 Carolina del Sur 05 Février 1778 3 New York Sixteen years ago today, on February 6th, 1778 4 In the state of Rhode Island Sunday, February 9, 1778 5 Connecticut On this day in 1778, February 12: 6 Georgia On this day in 1778, February 26 7 This 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 On this date in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware On this day in 1779, February 1st, 13 Maryland It all started on February 2nd, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• This was made possible by the Compromise of 1850, a set of legislative acts passed by Congress, one of which included a clause authorizing California's entry into the Union.
• From 1854 to 1861, Kansas Territory was the site of a series of violent conflicts between pro- and anti-slavery groups known as Bleeding Kansas.
• The Enabling Act of 1889 gave the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the legal authority to organize state governments (with Dakota being split into two 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 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.
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska was officially admitted to the Union as a result of the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Web Resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 United States" History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com