Listed here are the U.S. states in order of their admission to the Union.

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. Four U.S. states—Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—have commonwealth in their official names instead of state.

The 50 states are the main political divisions of the USA. All authority not specifically delegated to the federal government or forbidden to the states by the United States Constitution is vested in them. Issues of local concern are typically delegated to the respective state governments, and these 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. State governments are based on republican principles and have their own constitutions, as well as separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and it includes representatives from every state and every citizen. In the Senate, every state has two seats, and in the House of Representatives, every state has a minimum of one representative and as many as its population warrants, as determined by 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, grants each state a number of electors equal to the sum of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

According to the Constitution, Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 gives Congress the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union. A total of 50 states now make up the United States, up from the original 13. All newly admitted states have been given full voting rights. [5]

Here's a handy table with all 50 states and the days they 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.) 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 approved) Produced by 1   Delaware The 7th of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania It was on December 12th, 1787, that the Declaration of Independence was signed. [10]
(ratified) State of Pennsylvania as a Private Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787, December 18 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal Georgian Colony 5   Connecticut Saturday, January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former Crown Colony 6   Massachusetts It was February 6th, 1788. [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Royal Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a Colonial Possession 8   Southeastern United States, Specifically, the State of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   A New England State: June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, Royal 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 Royal Colony 12   Geographical Indication: North Carolina1 On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   Place Name: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) This is a free and independent Vermont republic. 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) Northern Virginia (including nine counties in its District of Kentucky[d]) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Territory to the Southwest 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Louisiana's Orleans Province 19   Indiana Dated: 12-11-1816
(admitted) Situated in the state of Indiana 20   Mississippi Tuesday, December 10, 1817 [22]
(admitted) The State of Mississippi 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Sunday, December 14th, 1819 [24]
(admitted) Alabam's Home State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri It was August 10th, 1821. [26]
(admitted) Specifically, a section of Missouri. 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) State of Arkansas 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The Michigan Territory1 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Its Florida-based definition 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) The State of Texas, Republika 29   Iowa It's the 28th of December, 1846
(admitted) The Iowa Territory, Part 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Disordered Lands / The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Partial Minnesota Territory 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Saturday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) Section of Kansas Territory 35   It's in West Virginia1. June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) West Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area[h]) 36   Nevada The 31st of October, 1864
(admitted) States of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) States Constituting the Nebraska Territory1 38   Colorado Time Period: 1876-08-01 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   The State of North Dakota1 Tuesday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) This portion of Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) This portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Places in Montana 42   Washington Instance created: November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Idaho is a territory in the United States. 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Location: Wyoming, USA 45   Utah Thursday, January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma This day in history, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Native American Lands in Oklahoma 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) A portion of the state of New Mexico 48   Arizona Day of the Moon (February 14), 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska The date was January 3, 1959.
(admitted) Kingdom of Alaska 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Honolulu, Hawaii

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the states by the Second Continental Congress. When the Articles of Confederation were finally ratified by all 13 states on March 1, 1781, the new government was officially established. The Articles of Confederation, the precursor to the present United States Constitution, were formally abolished on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777 2 Carolina del Sur Dated: February 5th, 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 Location: Rhode Island It was February 9th, 1778. 5 Connecticut Tuesday, February 12, 1778 6 Georgia Tuesday, February 26, 1778 7 The State of 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 Tuesday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Time Period: January 1, 1779 to February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland Sunday, February 2nd, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• The admission of California to the Union was a provision of the Compromise of 1850, a collection of acts passed by Congress.
• During the years of 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."
• In 1889, Congress passed the Enabling Act, which allowed the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories to organize themselves politically as states and apply for admission to the Union.
• The Oklahoma Enabling Act granted the people of the Indian Territory and the State of Oklahoma the right to organize a state government and seek admission to the Union as a single state. It also granted the people of the New Mexico and Arizona Territories the right to do the same. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state.
• As of January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became a member of the United States as a result of the passage of the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• Dates of statehood 50states com