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

Each of the 50 states in the United States is a sovereign nation in its own right and shares power with the federal government. Being a resident of the United States means that you are a citizen of both the federal republic and the state in which you currently reside. [1]The full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

The 50 states are the main administrative divisions in 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. Generally speaking, republican principles form the basis for each individual state's constitution and government, which is made up of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. [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. The Electoral College is the body that votes for President and Vice President of the United States, and each state gets a number of electors equal to its congressional delegation. [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. In the 240 years since the United States' founding in 1776, the number of states has increased from its original 13. There has been no discrimination against any of the new states in their admission. [5]

Each of the 50 states' official statehood dates is listed below. After signing on to the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the original 13 states entered the Union of States in the years between 1777 and 1781 and ratified the Articles of Confederation. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) This list of states is presented in the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed and currently functioning federal government. Each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
assented to or confirmed Developed from 1   Delaware Saturday, December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware, a British Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania Tuesday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Proprietary Province 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia The date: January 2nd, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut Day of the Year: January 9, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Earlier this year, on February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Royal Province 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial-era colony 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a former British 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, a Colony Held in the Name of the Crown 12   It's in the Tar Heel State, or North Carolina1 On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a British Crown Colony. 13   Providence, 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) State 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) Territory in the Northwest 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) French for "Orange Land"; the Orleans Region 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) This is Mississippi Country. 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Piece of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Thursday, December 14th, 1819 [24]
(admitted) Alabam's Home State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri It was August 10th, 1821. [26]
(admitted) Separate Section of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan As of today, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Province of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Florida's Homestead 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Democratic Socialists of America 29   Iowa Last Updated: 28 December, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Monday, September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Disordered Lands / The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon Tuesday, February 14, 1859
(admitted) Piece of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Last Updated: 29 January, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   State of West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) (There are 50 counties in the Trans-Allegheny area of Virginia) 36   Nevada The 31st of October, 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) Region of Colorado 39   State of North Dakota1. As of today's date, November 2nd, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) North Dakota (a portion of) 40   It's in the Badlands of South Dakota1. Day of the Dead, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Locale of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah Wednesday, January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) This is Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory. 47   New Mexico Dated: January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona Today in History (February 14th, 912)
(admitted) Arizona State 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii When: 21 August 1959
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Rationality of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the individual states by the Second Continental Congress. On March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation became operational after being ratified by all 13 states. 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 A Date in History: December 16th, 1777 2 Carolina del Sur Five of February, 1778 3 New York February 6, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut The date was February 12th, 1778. 6 Georgia Monday, February 26th, 1778 7 Element: 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 November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware It all started on February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland On this day in 1781, February 2

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.
• A series of bloody conflicts between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups occurred in Kansas Territory between 1854 and 1861, a period known as "Bleeding Kansas."
• 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 Acts 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.
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made January 3, 1959, the date Alaska joined the Union, was passed.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Websites outside the scope of this paper [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• Constitutional ratification and statehood formation dates 50states com