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

Each of the 50 individual states in the United States has some degree of autonomy, but ultimately shares power with the federal government. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are the only states whose full official names do not include the word "state," opting instead for the term "commonwealth."

To better understand the United States, it is helpful to break it down into its constituent parts, which are called " They hold all authority not specifically granted to or prohibited by the United States federal government in the Constitution. The federal government does not have jurisdiction over local matters, so states are responsible for things like regulating intrastate commerce, holding elections, forming local governments, establishing public school policy, and constructing and maintaining roads. The government of each state is divided into an executive, legislative, and judicial branch, and it is based on a constitution written in accordance with republican principles. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, both of which are elected by the citizens of their respective 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 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 Constitution specifically gives Congress the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. The original 13 states that made up the United States in 1776 have since been joined by another 39. 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. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) Here is a list of the states in the order in which they joined the new (and current) federal government after ratifying 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
formally recognized or approved Created by 1   Delaware It was the 7th of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony 2   Pennsylvania Monday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Colonial Possession 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) The Georgia Colony was a Crown Possession. 5   Connecticut 9 January 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts On this day in 1788, February 6 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Royal Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) British possession in the American colony of South Carolina 9   The State of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under the Rule of the British Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, the Queen's Colony 12   Carolina del Norte When: Tuesday, November 21, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a British Colony 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Providence Plantations, Rhode Island, and 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) A total of nine counties in the Commonwealth of Virginia's District in the state of Kentucky[d]. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Western Hemisphere's Southwest Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Region of Orleans 19   Indiana On this date in 1816, December 11
(admitted) State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Monday, December 10, 1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Area 21   Illinois Sunday, December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) State of Illinois, Part 22   Alabama Date: Thursday, December 14, 1819 [24]
(admitted) Regional Identifier for Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri As of this date in 1821, August 10 [26]
(admitted) Partial Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Monday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) A Territorial Statement for Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) An Area Including Florida 28   Texas Monday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) The Texas Republic 29   Iowa On this date in 1846:
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Piece of Wisconsin Territory 31   California Saturday, 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 14 February 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Wednesday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) Separate Section of Kansas Territory 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in the state of Virginia that are part of the Trans-Allegheny metropolitan area. 36   Nevada Instance Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) In the State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) A Land Named Nebraska 38   Colorado A Day in History: August 1st, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   It's in North Dakota1. On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of the Dakotas 40   "South Dakota1" Tuesday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Section of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) Location: The State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) State of Wyoming 45   Utah The Fourth of January, 1896 [43]
(admitted) Territorial Claims in Utah 46   Oklahoma Dated: November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) There's a lot of new territory in New Mexico. 48   Arizona As of today (14 February 1912)
(admitted) State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this day in 1959, January 3
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Sunday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Hawaiian Home Islands

Historical context of the ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress and submitted to the individual states for ratification. After being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781. 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 Citing South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York Tuesday, February 6th, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island Dated: February 9th, 1778 5 Connecticut The 12th of February, 1778 6 Georgia Friday, February 26th, 1778 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 A Place Called North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey A Date: Tuesday, November 19, 1778 12 Delaware Starting 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 themselves into states (with Dakota being split into two separate states) and to apply for admission to the Union.
• The New Mexico and Arizona Admission Act and the Oklahoma Enabling Act respectively granted permission for the people of those territories to organize a state government and to be admitted to the Union as a new state. calling for a vote to decide whether or not the two jurisdictions should be merged into one state.
• State of Alaska officially joined the Union on January 3, 1959, thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• U.S. State Videos History com
• dates of statehood 50states com