Here is a timeline of the states' official admission to the United States.

In the United States, each of the fifty individual states is a sovereign nation in its own right, with the federal government also having authority over its citizens. Due to the separation of powers between the federal government and the individual states, all U.S. citizens are considered citizens of both the federal republic and the state in which they currently reside. Unlike other states, [1]Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all have "commonwealth" in their official state names.

The 50 states are the most basic political units in America. 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 the construction and maintenance of roads not funded by the federal government, are generally under the purview of the respective state's government. 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 the Senate and the House of Representatives, that includes representatives from all 50 states and their citizens. 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. Additionally, the Electoral College, the body that elects the President and Vice President of the United States, allows each state to choose a number of electors to vote in the election proportional to the number of its representatives and senators in Congress. [4]

The Constitution specifically gives Congress the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. United States expansion from 13 to 50 states since 1776. All new states have been granted full voting rights alongside all others. [5]

A timeline of statehood for each of the 50 states is provided below. Each of the original 13 states ratified the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, and thus became a state in July 1776 after agreeing to the United States Declaration of Independence. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) 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. Dates of admission for subsequent states are those officially recognized by law. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
accept(ed) or (approved) Constructed from 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) The Pennsylvania Colony as a Colonial Establishment 3   New Jersey Dated: December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) The New Jersey Colony, a Crown Colony 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Georgia Colony was a Crown Possession. 5   Connecticut Nineteen Eighty-Eighth Day, January [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former Crown Colony 6   Massachusetts Sixteen years ago today, on February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal Colony of Massachusetts Bay 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Maryland Colony as a Colonial Possession 8   A State in the Southeastern United States May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Carolina was a crown colony at the time. 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a British Crown Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Crown Colony and Currently Reigning Monarchy 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) The New York Crown Colony 12   Cary, North Carolina1 In the year 1789, on November 21st, [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former Crown Colony 13   Specifically, the state of Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Known as the Crown Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of 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) Northern Provinces 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) Frontier State of Indiana 20   Mississippi The date was December 10th, 1817. [22]
(admitted) Region of Mississippi 21   Illinois Instanced on December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) State of Illinois, Part 22   Alabama Today in History (December 14th, 819) [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Boston, MA (Maine Federal Court District) 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) The Missouri Territory, Part 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Arkansas State 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Affirmative: Florida's Home State 28   Texas Thursday, December 29, 1845 [29]
(admitted) United States of America, Texas, Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) Partial Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Piece of Wisconsin Territory 31   California On this day in 1850, September 9 [31]
(admitted) Disordered Lands / The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon Today in History (February 14th, 1859)
(admitted) This portion of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Tuesday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) Piece of Kansas Territory 35   The Mountain State, or West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada Instance Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) Land of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Colorado, the Territory 39   State of North Dakota1 Earlier today, on November 2nd, 1889, [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   It's in the Badlands of South Dakota1. It all started on November 2nd, 1889. [38][i]
(admitted) State of Dakota (in part) 41   Montana Day that November 8th, 1889, Began [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington It all started on November 11th, 1889. [42]
(admitted) Location: The State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Places in Wyoming 45   Utah Thursday, January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) A Land Named Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Oklahoma and Indian Land 47   New Mexico The sixth of January, 1912
(admitted) Region of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) Territorial Status: Arizona 49   Alaska On this day in 1959, January 3:
(admitted) Geographical Term for Alaska 50   Hawaii On this day in 1959, August 21st,
(admitted) Location: Hawaii

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On this date in 1777, the Second Continental Congress voted to send the Articles of Confederation to the individual states for ratification. After being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation government was abolished on March 4, 1789, and the current federal government under the Constitution was established. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia It was on December 16th, 1777, that 2 " South Carolina" 05 Février 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 Specifically, the state of Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut Day of the Frog, 12 February, 1778 6 Georgia Wednesday, February 26th, 1778 7 This 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 Monday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware It all started on February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 1781.

See also [ edit ]

• One of the bills included in the "Compromise of 1850" set of legislation passed by Congress to allow for California's entry into the Union.
• 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.
• The Enabling Act of 1889 gave the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the right to organize their own governments and seek admission to the Union as individual states (the Dakotas were to be split in half).
• 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. call for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became a state thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

To other sites [ edit ]

• YouTube playlist titled "States of the USA" History com
• Definition of Terms: "Date of Statehood" 50states com