In order of their admission to the United States, the following list of states has been compiled.

Each of the fifty United States' individual states is a sovereign nation within the United States, equal in status to the federal government. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. [1]The official full names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

As the most basic administrative divisions, states play a crucial role in the United States. They have all the authority that isn't specifically given to or prohibited to the federal government by the United States Constitution. In most cases, local matters that affect a state's citizens fall under the purview of that state's government. This includes things like intrastate commerce rules, election administration, municipal formation, public school policy, and the building and upkeep of roads that are not funded by the federal government. The government of each state is divided into an executive, legislative, and judicial branch, and is based on republican principles as outlined in the state's own constitution. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of senators and representatives from all 50 states. There are two senators and at least one representative from each 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. Furthermore, 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 power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union is delegated to Congress by Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. 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 detailing the official statehood dates for each of the fifty United States' jurisdictions. 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 and ratified the Articles of Confederation. (See below for a table detailing the timeline of Acts of Consecration) 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 state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
Accepted or confirmed Constituted of 1   Delaware Seventh of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware, a British Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a Proprietary State 3   New Jersey The 18th of December, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Kingdom of Georgia 5   Connecticut The Nineteen Eighty-First Day of the Year, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Royal Connecticut Colony 6   Massachusetts Day of the Frog, February 6, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Royal Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Province of Maryland as a Private Property 8   "South Carolina1" May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Kingdom of the South Carolina Colonies 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The New Hampshire Colony was a Crown Colony. 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Colony of the British Crown 12   Carolina del Norte Monday, November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) Originally, North Carolina was a British colony. 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The [c]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) Territories in the Northwest 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Territory of Orleans 19   Indiana On this day in 1816 (December 11)
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi The 10th of December, 1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) An Area of Illinois 22   Alabama Thursday, December 14th, 1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Region of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Region of Florida 28   Texas The date is December 29th, 1845. [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) State of Iowa, Part 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) (Of) Wisconsin Territory 31   California Date: September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Wilderness area / Mexican Cession (part)[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Partial Minnesota Territory 33   Oregon A Date: 14 FEBRUARY 1859
(admitted) Segment of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas It all began on this date in 1861: January 29. [33]
(admitted) Piece of Kansas Territory 35   A state located in western Virginia. June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada Sunday, October 31st, 1864
(admitted) It's in Nevada! 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Colorado, the Territory 39   There's a lot of room in North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) An Area of Dakota 40   Dakota (State) Wednesday, November 2nd, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Area Including the State of Dakota 41   Montana Monday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington The Eleventh Day of November, 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Geographical ID: The Gem State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Wyoming, the State 45   Utah The date of January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) UT - Utah Valley 46   Oklahoma Dated: November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico The sixth of January, 1912
(admitted) Land of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959: January 3
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Monday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

When the Articles of Confederation were ratified [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress and sent to the individual states for ratification. The Articles of Confederation were ratified by the required number of states (13) and went into 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 Monday, February 5th, 1778 3 New York Date: February 6, 1778 4 It's in Rhode Island. On this day in 1778, February 9: 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia Friday, February 26th, 1778 7 That State of New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Cary, North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware February 1, 1779 13 Maryland The date was February 2nd, 1781.

See also [ edit ]

• Among the many legislative acts that made up the "Compromise of 1850," the one that led to California's eventual admission to the Union was the California Gold Clause.
• 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 legal authority to organize state governments (with Dakota being split into two states) and apply for admission to the Union.
• Authorizing the people of the Indian Territory and the Oklahoma Territory to organize themselves into a single state and to seek admission to the Union as a single state via the Oklahoma Enabling Act; also authorizing the people of the New Mexico and Arizona Territories to organize themselves into a state government and to seek admission to the Union as a single state. calling for a vote to decide if the two areas should be united as one state.
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Referring to Resources Outside This Article [ edit ]

• U.S. State Videos History com
• Indicators of Statehood Dates 50states com