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. The United States is a federal republic in which the powers of the federal government and the individual states are equally balanced. This results in dual citizenship for all Americans. [1]The full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

In the United States, the individual states are the most basic political entities. In other words, they have all the authority that isn't specifically given to or forbidden to the federal government in the United States Constitution. The federal government does not have jurisdiction over local issues, so it is up to the states to handle things like intrastate commerce, elections, new municipalities, public school policy, and non-federal road building and maintenance. Republican principles form the basis for each state's constitution and government, which consists 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 number of electors a state can choose to represent it in the Electoral College, the body that votes for the President and Vice President of the United States, is equal to the sum of the number of its congressional representatives and senators. [4]

The Constitution clearly gives Congress the power to decide whether or not to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. There are currently 50 states, up from the original 13. The new states have been accepted without discrimination. [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 original 13 states entered the Union of States in the years between 1777 and 1781 and ratified the Articles of Confederation, the country's first constitution. Ratification dates for the AoC are listed in a separate table below.) [6] These states are listed in the order in which they voted to join the new (and current) federal government after ratifying the Constitution in 1787. In the following sections, each state's admission date is the statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted or approved) Produced by 1   Delaware 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) Colonial Delaware[b]. 2   Pennsylvania On this day in 1787, December 12: [10]
(ratified) The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia The date was January 2, 1788. [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut Wednesday, January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) The Province of Connecticut as a Royal Colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Province of Maryland as a Private Property 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   The state of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal New Hampshire Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Crown Colony and Currently Reigning Monarchy 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Colony 12   A Place Called North Carolina1 This day in 1789, November 21 [14]
(ratified) The North Carolina Colony was a Crown Colony. 13   In the state of Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) We are 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) Locations to the West 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) The Region of Orleans 19   Indiana The 11th of December, 1816
(admitted) Region of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) Land Located in the State of Mississippi 21   Illinois Sunday, December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Portion of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Friday, December 14, 1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) The Bay State (Maine Congressional District) 24   Missouri The Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Part of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Territory of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Monday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) The State of Texas as a Separate Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Region of Wisconsin 31   California Saturday, September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Wilderness area / Mexican Cession (part)[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon On this day in 1859, February 14
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas It all began on this date in 1861: January 29. [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) A state in which 50 counties are located in the Trans-Allegheny area (Virginia). 36   Nevada October 31st, 1864
(admitted) Locale of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado Date: August 1st, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Area 39   To the north: North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Area Including the State of Dakota 40   It's in the Badlands of South Dakota1. The date was November 2, 1889. [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Location: Montana, in the Territories 42   Washington On this date in 1889 [42]
(admitted) Washington State 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) It's in Wyoming! 45   Utah January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) Territory of Utah 46   Oklahoma Wednesday, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona Sunday, February 14th, 1912
(admitted) Land of Arizona 49   Alaska Sunday, January 3rd, 1959
(admitted) Geographical Term for Alaska 50   Hawaii Thursday, August 21, 1959
(admitted) State or Province of Hawaii

Timeline of the Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Second Continental Congress voted to send the Articles of Confederation to the individual states for ratification. On March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation became active after being ratified by all 13 states. 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 Dated: February 5th, 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 That place called Rhode Island The Nineteenth of February, 1778 5 Connecticut On this day in 1778 — February 12 — 6 Georgia Friday, February 26th, 1778 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Specifically, the state of North Carolina. April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Starting on February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland This day in 1781, on February 2nd,

See also [ edit ]

• The admission of California to the Union was a part of the Compromise of 1850, a collection of acts passed by Congress.
• During the years 1854–1861, when Kansas was still considered part of the territory of Kansas, a series of violent conflicts broke out between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups, earning the region the nickname "Bleeding Kansas."
• The Enabling Act of 1889 gave the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the legal right to organize themselves into states (with Dakota being split into two separate states) and to apply for admission to the Union.
• Enabling Act for the State of Oklahoma; allowing citizens of the Indian Territory to organize a state government and seek admission to the Union as a single state; allowing citizens of the New Mexico and Arizona Territories to organize a state government and seek admission to the Union as individual states. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be combined into one state.
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• The United States of America Video Archive History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com