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

Each of the fifty United States' constituent entities, known collectively as "states," shares sovereignty with the federal government. In light of the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, all U.S. citizens hold dual citizenship. Only four states—Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—have commonwealth in their official names rather than state.

For the most part, the United States can be broken down into its individual states. They have all the authority that isn't given to or restricted to the federal government. 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 state's government is structured similarly to the federal government, with an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. However, each state's constitution is based on republican principles. [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 electing the President and Vice President, is equal to the sum of the number of representatives and senators from that state in Congress. [4]

The Constitution specifically vests the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Congress through Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. The United States' total number of states has grown from the original 13 in 1776 to the current 50. All newly admitted states have been given full voting rights. [5]

Each of the 50 states' official statehood dates is listed below. After signing on to the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the original 13 states entered the Union of States in the years between 1777 and 1781. At that time, they also ratified the Articles of Confederation, the country's first constitution. (A separate table detailing dates of AoC ratification is provided below.) States are listed in the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed (and still existing) federal government. Dates of admission for subsequent states are those officially recognized by law. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(approved or permitted) Developed from 1   Delaware 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware as a Colony[b]. 2   Pennsylvania The 12th of December, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Colonial Pennsylvania 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony that became a state in the United States 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts On this day in 1788, February 6th, [8]
(ratified) Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bay, a British Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Columbia, South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a former British colony 9   It's in the Granite State, New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Kingdom of New Hampshire 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) Province of New York under the Crown 12   Asheville, North Carolina1 The date of November 21, 1789 [14]
(ratified) British North Carolina Colony 13   It's in Rhode Island1. May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) It's a republic in 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) Canadian Region of the Northwest 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Province of Orleans 19   Indiana Dated: 12-11-1816
(admitted) Its Location: The Indiana Territory1 20   Mississippi During the early hours of the morning of December 10th, 1817 [22]
(admitted) Mississippi Country 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Maine[f] District). 24   Missouri The Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Geographical Region Including Arkansas 26   Michigan Monday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan, or the Upper Peninsula 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Location of Florida as a Separate Political Entity 28   Texas On this date in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) The Texas Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) Region of Iowa 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) The portion of Wisconsin that was once known as the 31   California On this day in 1850, September 9 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon Date: February 14, 1859
(admitted) Specifically, the Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Thursday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   Mountain State of West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) State of Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area [h]). 36   Nevada A Date Certain: October 31, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) A Land Named Nebraska 38   Colorado On this day in 1876, August 1: [37]
(admitted) Specifically: The State of Colorado 39   In the state of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of the Dakotas 40   Geographical Indicator: South Dakota1 Monday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) North Dakota (a portion of) 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Geographical Region Including Montana 42   Washington This day in 1889, November 11 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Geographical Region Called Wyoming 45   Utah Thursday, January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) Territory of Utah 46   Oklahoma The Date Was November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico It all started on January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) Specifically, the Arizona State Region 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Kingdom of Alaska 50   Hawaii Friday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Location: Hawaii

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. On March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation officially went into effect. The Articles of Confederation, the precursor to the present United States Constitution, were formally abolished on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777 2 Carolina del Sur 05 Février 1778 3 New York Tuesday, February 6th, 1778 4 Here in Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia Dated: February 26th, 1778 7 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 Tuesday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware The First of February, 1779 13 Maryland Wednesday, February 2nd, 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.
• In 1889, Congress passed the Enabling Act, which allowed the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories to organize themselves politically as 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 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.
• It was on January 3, 1959, that Alaska was officially admitted to the Union as a state thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• When a country or territory was established as a nation. 50states com