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

One of the fifty entities that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government is a state. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. Some states' official names include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state," such as in Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

The fifty 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 non-federal road construction and maintenance, are generally under the purview of state governments. 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, and it includes representatives from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. There are two senators and at least one representative from every state, 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. 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]

To amend the Constitution and Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union, Congress must have the authority to do so, as stated in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. The original 13 states of the United States have since grown to 50. 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 Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the original 13 states entered the Union of States in the years between 1777 and 1781. At that time, they also ratified the Articles of Confederation, the country's first constitution. (An additional table detailing the dates of AoC ratification is provided below.) These states are listed in the order in which they joined the new (and current) federal government upon ratification of the Constitution in 1787. Each subsequent admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted; confirmed) Formed by 1   Delaware Dated: December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a Proprietary State 3   New Jersey Yesterday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former Crown Colony 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Kingdom of Georgia 5   Connecticut Monday, January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Royal Connecticut Colony 6   Massachusetts Saturday, February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachussetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of Maryland as a Private Colony 8   To the South May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   Granite State, New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a British Crown Colony. 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Commonwealth of Virginia, British Dominions 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Colony Held in Trust for the Crown 12   Asheville, North Carolina1 When: Tuesday, November 21, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   A Place Called Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a Colony of the British Crown 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) It has nine counties in its District of Kentucky[d] and is located in Virginia. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Territories to the Southwest 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Province of the Northwest 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) French for "Orange Land"; the Orleans Region 19   Indiana Monday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Monday, December 10, 1817 [22]
(admitted) Mississippi Country 21   Illinois Time: Wednesday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Region of Illinois 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) Locales in Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Partial Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) State of Arkansas 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Territory of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) An Area Including Florida 28   Texas Thursday, December 29, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa Yesterday, on the 28th of December, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) (Of) Wisconsin Territory 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Region of Minnesota 33   Oregon On this day in 1859 — February 14
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Saturday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) Section of Kansas Territory 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) A state in which 50 counties are located in the Trans-Allegheny area (Virginia). 36   Nevada Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) Locale of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Expansion of the Nebraska Territory1 38   Colorado Initially, on August 1st, 1876 [37]
(admitted) This is Colorado Country. 39   The State of North Dakota1 This day in 1889, November [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   "South Dakota1" On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Part of the Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) That Part of the Country Known as Montana 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah Monday, January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) UT - Utah Valley 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Including both Oklahoma and Indian Country as their own separate territories. 47   New Mexico The sixth of January, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska Sunday, January 3rd, 1959
(admitted) Arctic Alaskan Territories 50   Hawaii When: 21 August 1959
(admitted) Aloha! Hawaii!

When the Articles of Confederation were ratified [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress and submitted to the individual states for ratification. As of March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation were in effect, having been ratified by all 13 states. The Articles of Confederation were abolished on March 4, 1789, and the current federal government under the Constitution was established. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia This day in 1777, on the 16th of December, 2 Carolina del Sur 05 Février 1778 3 New York Adopted: February 6th, 1778 4 It's in Rhode Island. 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut Thursday, February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 It's in the Tar Heel State, or North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey The 19th of November, 1778 12 Delaware Starting on February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 1781.

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.
• 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."
• Statehood Act of 1889; allows citizens of Dakota (to be split into two states), Montana, and Washington territories to organize state governments 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 Act did the same for the people of those territories. forcing a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

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