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

The 50 individual states that make up the United States are co-sovereign entities with the central government. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. [1]The full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

To better understand the United States, it is helpful to break it down into its constituent parts, which are called "states." It gives them authority over everything the federal government doesn't have, including everything the Constitution expressly forbids them from doing. Issues of local concern are typically delegated to the respective state governments, which may include the management of intrastate commerce, the conduct of elections, the formation of local governments, the direction of public schools, and the construction and maintenance of roads that are not funded by the federal government. Independent governments, based on republican principles, each with their own constitutions and separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches can be found in all 50 states. [2]

The United States Congress is a bipartisan legislature made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and it is comprised of representatives from all 50 states and their citizens. Every state has two senators and at least one representative in the House of Representatives, with the size of each state's delegation in the House determined by the population of the state as of the most recent decennial census required by the Constitution. Moreover, the Electoral College, the body that chooses the President and Vice President of the United States, allows each state to send a number of electors to the vote equal to the sum of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

The Constitution clearly states that Congress has the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. There are now fifty states, up from the original thirteen that existed when the United States was founded in 1776. A new state is admitted to the union on the same terms as the existing ones. [5]

The table below details the dates of statehood for all fifty US states. The first 13 states accepted the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, and they ratified the Articles of Confederation, the country's first constitution, and joined the first Union of States between 1777 and 1781. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) These states are listed in the order in which they joined the new (and current) federal government upon ratification of the Constitution in 1787. The dates of admission for subsequent states are those officially recognized by law. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(approved or permitted) Originating from 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware as a Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania On this day in 1787, December 12 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) Kingdom of New Jersey 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British crown colony 6   Massachusetts Sunday, February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Province of Massachusetts Bay, British Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) English: 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, Dominated Colony of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Colony 12   Geographical Indication: North Carolina1 Tuesday, November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   That place called Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Providence Plantations and Rhode Island, a Royal Colony 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) Aspects of the South-Western Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Alaska, Northwest, and Canadian Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana It was on this date in 1816 that the United States declared independence from France.
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) Geographical Region of Mississippi 21   Illinois Wednesday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Instance created: 14 December 1819 [24]
(admitted) Located in Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri Monday, August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan The 26th of January, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Geographical Florida 28   Texas Friday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texan Republic 29   Iowa Dated: December 28th, 1846
(admitted) A Section of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California The Nineteenth Day of September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Disordered Lands / The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon A Date: 14 FEBRUARY 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas The Day That Began the Year 1861, January 29 [33]
(admitted) The State of Kansas and Adjacent Areas 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada Last Updated: 31 October, 1864
(admitted) Geographical Location: Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Expansion of the Nebraska Territory1 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Colorado, the Territory 39   The State of North Dakota1 This day in 1889, November [38][i]
(admitted) Area Including the State of Dakota 40   This is South Dakota1. Earlier today, on November 2nd, 1889, [38][i]
(admitted) The Dakotas, or a Portion of It 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) This is Montana Country. 42   Washington When: November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) Region of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Boise, Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Location: Wyoming 45   Utah Time: Thursday, January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma Wednesday, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Lands in Oklahoma and Indian Country 47   New Mexico Sunday, January 6th, 1912
(admitted) Location: New Mexico, USA 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) Arizona State 49   Alaska Three days into 1959
(admitted) The Alaskan Territories 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Located in Hawaii's territorial waters

Dates of Articles of Confederation Ratification [ edit ]

As of November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation had been approved by the Second Continental Congress and were ready to be ratified by the individual states. 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 On this day in 1777 2 Columbia, South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia In other words, on this date in 1778, February 26th, 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 Sunday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware On this day in 1779, February 1st, 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 1781.

See also [ edit ]

• One of the acts included in the "Compromise of 1850" legislation package was one that allowed California to join 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 between pro- and anti-slavery groups in the territory.
• The Enabling Act of 1889 gave the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the legal right to organize state governments (with Dakota being split into two separate states) and apply for admission to the Union.
• The Oklahoma Enabling Act gave the people of Oklahoma and Indian Territory 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 on whether or not the two areas should be united as one state.
• Alaska became the 49th state on January 3, 1959, thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com