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

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. [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 main divisions 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. 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. Government in each state is divided into an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary, and is based on a unique set of constitutional safeguards based on republican ideals. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, that includes representatives from all 50 states and their citizens. There are two senators and at least one representative from each state, with the size of each 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. The Electoral College is the body that officially votes for President and Vice President of the United States. [3] Each state has the right to send a number of electors to the Electoral College equal to the sum of its congressional deputies and senators. [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. Originally consisting of 13 states, the United States now includes 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. When they signed on to the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the original 13 states officially became sovereign nations; between 1777 and 1781, they ratified the Articles of Confederation to form the first United States of America constitution. (See the separate table below for the exact dates each AoC was ratified.) These states are listed in the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the fledgling (and now established) United States of America. As stated, each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory mandate. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
acceptable; approved; recognized Developed from 1   Delaware On this day in 1787: [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware, a British Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania On this day in 1787, December 12: [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787, December 18 [11]
(ratified) The New Jersey Crown Colony 4   Georgia On this day in 1788, January 2 [8]
(ratified) A British Colony in the State of Georgia 5   Connecticut The 9th of January, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Colony of Connecticut Under the Crown 6   Massachusetts It was February 6th, 1788. [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of Maryland as a Private Colony 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Kingdom of the South Carolina Colonies 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) Virginia, Dominion of the Crown and Imperial Colony 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) Royal New York's Colony 12   Carolina del Norte Wednesday, November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a British Crown Colony 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) New England's Original Colony, 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) Northern Virginia (including nine counties in its District of Kentucky[d]) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) States Constituting the South-Western Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) North West Territories, Segment 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Louisiana's Orleans Province 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois On this day in 1818 — December 3 — [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) In the State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Maine(f) District). 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Region of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Regional Term for Arkansas 26   Michigan Thursday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The Florida Peninsula and Adjacent Lands 28   Texas It's the 29th of December, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa Friday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) Region of Iowa 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Regional portion of Wisconsin 31   California The Nineteenth Day of September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) In a state of disarray / the Mexican Cession, part 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Area Including the State of Minnesota 33   Oregon Date: February 14, 1859
(admitted) Segment of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas It all began on this date in 1861: January 29. [33]
(admitted) Specifically, a section of Kansas. 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada The 31st of October, 1864
(admitted) Land of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Territory of Nebraska 38   Colorado The Day That Started It All: August 1, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Location of Colorado's Territory 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   Location: South Dakota1 The date was November 2nd, 1889. [38][i]
(admitted) South Dakota Section 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Montana, the Wild West 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) Locales in Wyoming 45   Utah On this day in 1896: [43]
(admitted) Territory of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Oklahoma and Indian Land 47   New Mexico On this day in 1912, January 6th:
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska Wednesday, January 3, 1959
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Monday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

The Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the individual 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 Articles of Confederation, which governed the states, were abolished on March 4, 1789, and the present Constitution, which governs the federal level, was ratified. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Saturday, December 16th, 1777 2 Carolina del Sur Dated: February 5th, 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut Wednesday, February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 The State of New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 The state of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey Wednesday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Day of the Sun, February 1, 1779 13 Maryland On this day in 1781, February 2nd,

See also [ edit ]

• The admission of California to the Union was a part of the Compromise of 1850, a set of congressional acts.
• Battles between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups in Kansas Territory broke out in the years leading up to Kansas's statehood in 1854–1861.
• 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 granted 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 officially became a state thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

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