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. Unlike other states, [1]Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all have "commonwealth" in their official state names.

In the United States, the individual states are the most basic political entities. To paraphrase, they have all the authority that isn't specifically given to or forbidden to the federal government in 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. 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. 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 Electoral College, the body that chooses the President and Vice President of the United States, grants each state a number of electors 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. 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 with information about when each of the 50 states became independent. 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. (A separate table detailing the ratification of the Acts of Confederation is provided below.) 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 confirmed Prompted by 1   Delaware The Seventh of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony 2   Pennsylvania When: Friday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Yesterday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a Crown Colony 4   Georgia The date was January 2, 1788. [8]
(ratified) Empire of the Crown: Georgia 5   Connecticut Saturday, January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Saturday, February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Colonial Maryland 8   This is the state of South Carolina1. May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under the Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominant Colony of the British Empire 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, the Queen's Most Favored Colony 12   Purpose: The State of North Carolina1 On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) Colonial North Carolina, a Crown Colony 13   The Ocean State, Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Colony under British Rule; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) Vermont's [c]Republic 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) The Commonwealth of Virginia (which includes nine counties in its District of Kentucky[d]). 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Its Southwestern Parts 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Alaska, Northwest, and Canadian Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) The Region of Orleans 19   Indiana Thursday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) This is Indiana State 20   Mississippi On this day in 1817, December 10 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Area 21   Illinois Monday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Region of Illinois 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) Its own separate jurisdiction, the State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) [f]Maine District, Commonwealth of Massachusetts 24   Missouri Monday, August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Part of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Initially published: January 26, 1837 [28]
(admitted) In the State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Geographical Florida 28   Texas The 29th of December, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa Monday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Mexican Cession [g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Territory in Minnesota, Sectional. 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) Part of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) Piece of Kansas Territory 35   Mountain State of West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado On this day in 1876, August 1: [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   Location: North Dakota1 Wednesday, November 2nd, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Area Including the State of Dakota 40   The State of South Dakota1. On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Part of the Dakota Territory 41   Montana Wednesday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington Sunday, November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) Territory of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Locale of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah The Fourth of January, 1896 [43]
(admitted) Utah, the Territories 46   Oklahoma On this day in 1907, November 16 [44]
(admitted) State of Oklahoma and Native American Lands 47   New Mexico Saturday, January 6th, 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) Arctic Alaskan Territories 50   Hawaii Those words were first spoken on August 21st, 1959.
(admitted) Islands of Hawaii

The 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. The Articles of Confederation were ratified by the required number of states (13) and went into effect on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation were abolished on March 4, 1789, and the present federal government under the Constitution was established. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777 2 This is the state of South Carolina. Day of the Week: February 5, 1778 3 New York The date was February 6th, 1778. 4 Specifically, the state of Rhode Island Nineteen Seventy-Eighth Day, February 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia Monday, February 26th, 1778 7 Specifically, the state of New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Asheville, North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey Tuesday, 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.
• When Kansas Territory was still a territory, between 1854 and 1861, a series of violent conflicts broke out between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups, coming to be known as "Bleeding Kansas."
• 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 granted the people of the Indian Territory and the State of Oklahoma 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 to decide whether or not the two areas should be united as one state.
• As of January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became a member of the United States as a result of the passage of the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• Watch videos from each state in the United States. History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com