Date of admission to the Union is listed for each of the 50 states in the United States.

A state is one of the fifty individual entities that together make up the United States of America and share sovereignty with the federal government. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. In their official state names, Commonwealth states like Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia distinguish themselves from other states by using the term "commonwealth."

The 50 states make up the most basic organizational unit of the USA. 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. Each of the fifty states has a government that consists of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch, and 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 each state and at least one representative in the House, with the size of a state's delegation in the House determined by its population as of the most recent decennial census required by the Constitution. 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]

This 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. The original 13 states of the United States have since grown to 50. 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. After signing on to the 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; confirmed) Created by 1   Delaware 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania The Twelveth of December, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) Jersey, a former British colony now a state 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Kingdom of Georgia 5   Connecticut 9 January 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Saturday, February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bay, a British Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Southeastern United States, Specifically, the State of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   Primarily Used in: New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The State of New Hampshire as a Royal Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the British Empire 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) Province of New York under the Crown 12   Specifically, the state of North Carolina1. On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   Here in Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Provost State of Providence Plantations and the State of Rhode Island 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of 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) Region of the Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) District of Orleans 19   Indiana Dated: 12-11-1816
(admitted) The Indiana Territory1 20   Mississippi Instance created: 10 December, 1817 [22]
(admitted) This is Mississippi Country. 21   Illinois This day in 1818, on December 3rd, [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Tuesday, December 14, 1819 [24]
(admitted) In the State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri It was August 10th, 1821. [26]
(admitted) Region of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The State of Arkansas 26   Michigan As of today, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Land of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Dated: December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Affirmative: The Republic of Texas1 29   Iowa Dated: 12/28/1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) An Area of Wisconsin 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) The State of Oregon, or (a portion of) the Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Wednesday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) The State of Kansas and Adjacent Areas 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) West Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area[h]) 36   Nevada Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) Location: Nevada, USA 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Expansion of the Nebraska Territory1 38   Colorado Monday, August 1st, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Geographical Definition of Colorado 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Section of Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Area Including the State of Dakota 41   Montana Dated: November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Region of Montana 42   Washington On this date in 1889 [42]
(admitted) Geographical Indication of Washington State 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Geographical ID: The Gem State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) A Land Called Wyoming 45   Utah Thursday, January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) Arizona State 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Location of Alaska 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Dates of Articles of Confederation ratification [ edit ]

Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the states on November 15, 1777, after being approved by the Second Continental Congress. 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 Monday, December 16th, 1777 2 Carolina del Sur Five of February, 1778 3 New York Saturday, February 6th, 1778 4 Specifically, the state of Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 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 Carolina del Norte April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Dated: 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 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.
• A law passed in 1889 called the Enabling Act gave citizens of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the legal right 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 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 areas should be united as a single state
• Effective January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became the 49th state in the Union thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• Title: "Videos of the 50 States of the USA" History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com