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

A state is one of the fifty individual entities that together make up the United States of America and share sovereignty with the federal government. Since the federal government and the individual states share power, 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."

In the United States, the individual states are the most basic political entities. In other words, they have all the authority that isn't specifically given to or forbidden to the federal government in the United States Constitution. Local matters, such as intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and the construction and maintenance of roads not funded by the federal government, are typically left to the discretion of the respective 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. Depending on its population, as determined by the most recent decennial census required by the Constitution, each state is allotted a certain number of representatives in the House of Representatives, with a minimum of one representative and a maximum determined by the Constitution. In addition, the Electoral College, the body that chooses the President and Vice President of the United States, allows each state to send a number of voters to vote there that is equal to the sum of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

Congress has the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union per Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. As of today, there are 50 states, up from the original 13. 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 between 1777 and 1781 by ratifying the Articles of Confederation. Dates of AoC ratification are listed in a separate table below.) [6] 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 succeeding state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
accepted; confirmed Produced by 1   Delaware The Seventh of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Province of Delaware[b] 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Colonial Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) Kingdom of New Jersey 4   Georgia Initially published: January 2, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut It all started on January 9th, 1788. [12]
(ratified) State of Connecticut, Royal Colony 6   Massachusetts Dated: February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a Crown Colony 8   Colony State of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal Province of South Carolina 9   For the state of New Hampshire1, see: 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 Colony of the British Crown 12   To the State of North Carolina1 Exactly two hundred and ninety years ago, on November 21st, [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former Crown Colony 13   This is the state of Rhode Island1. May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) Independent State of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) Nine counties in Virginia's District in Kentucky(d) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) In the South-Western Part of the Country 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) North West Territories, Segment 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Places Located in the Province of Orleans 19   Indiana Time Period: December 11th, 1816
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Tuesday, December 10, 1817 [22]
(admitted) Geographical Region of Mississippi 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Maine(f) District). 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) An Area of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) This is Michigan Country. 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Those Parts of the United States That Are Currently Called 28   Texas This day in 1845, on December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa It's the 28th of December, 1846
(admitted) The Iowan portion of the Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Dated: September 9th, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Chaos-stricken regions / the Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Separate Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) Regional portion of Oregon 34   Kansas Wednesday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) State of Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area [h]). 36   Nevada It is now October 31, 1864
(admitted) States of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Region of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Aspects of the Colorado Territory1 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Section of Dakota Territory 40   To the South Dakota1 The date was November 2nd, 1889. [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) A Place Called Montana 42   Washington On this date in 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 Tuesday, January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) Locale of Utah 46   Oklahoma The Date Was November 16, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Geographical Regions of Oklahoma and Indian Country 47   New Mexico This day in 1912, on January 6
(admitted) Land of New Mexico 48   Arizona Thursday, February 14, 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Located in Alaska 50   Hawaii Friday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii, a Territorial State

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Second Continental Congress voted to send the Articles of Confederation to the individual states for ratification. After being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation became effective on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation were abolished and the present Constitution ratified on March 4, 1789, ushering in the modern federal government. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Saturday, December 16th, 1777 2 Carolina del Sur 05 Février 1778 3 New York The sixth of February, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island On this day in 1778 — February 9 — 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia Saturday, February 26th, 1778 7 Primarily Used in: 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 On this date in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware One Day in 1779: February 13 Maryland It all started on February 2nd, 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 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 right to organize state governments (the Dakotas were to be split into two separate states) and apply for admission to the Union.
• The New Mexico and Arizona Admission Acts and the Oklahoma Enabling Act respectively granted permission for the people of New Mexico and the Indian Territory to organize a state government and to seek admission 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.
• It was on January 3, 1959, that Alaska was officially admitted to the Union as a state thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• Indicators of Statehood Dates 50states com