Listed here are the U.S. states in the order in which they were admitted to the Union.

One of the 50 individual entities that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government is known as a state. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. [1]In their full official names, the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia use the term commonwealth rather than state.

As the most basic administrative divisions, states play a crucial role in the United States. When it comes to authority, they have everything the federal government doesn't and can't. Concerns such as intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and non-federal road construction and maintenance fall under the purview of state governments. 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]

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 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. Each state has the right to send a number of electors to the Electoral College, the body that votes for President and Vice President, equal to the sum of its congressional deputies. [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. From its original thirteen in 1776 to its current fifty, the United States has undergone tremendous growth since its inception. 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. (The dates of each AoC ratification are listed in a separate table 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 state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
accepted; approved Created by 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) "Delaware Colony" 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) The Pennsylvania Colony as a Colonial Establishment 3   New Jersey Wednesday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, the former Crown 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) New England's Crown Colony 6   Massachusetts Day of the Frog, February 6, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Province of Massachusetts Bay, a British Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Province of South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   Element: 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 Royal Colony 12   Carolina del Norte The date November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a British Crown Colony. 13   That place called Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) Republican State of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (9 counties in its District in Kentucky[d]) Virginia. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Northern Provinces 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) Hoosier State 20   Mississippi Monday, December 10, 1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois Time: Wednesday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) State of Illinois, Part 22   Alabama Thursday, December 14th, 1819 [24]
(admitted) In the State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Region of Maine(f): Massachusetts 24   Missouri Thursday, August 10th, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Part of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Specifically, the Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Saturday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) An Area Including Florida 28   Texas Dated: December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Independence, Texas 29   Iowa On this date in 1846:
(admitted) A Section of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Area of Wisconsin That Was Once Called the Wisconsin Territory 31   California Saturday, September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Disordered Lands / The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Region of Minnesota 33   Oregon Wednesday, February 14, 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Friday, January 29, 1861 [33]
(admitted) It's true that Kansas was once a territory. 35   There's no place like West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada October 31st, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Nebraska State 38   Colorado Beginning on August 1st, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   In the state of North Dakota1 The date of November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) This portion of Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) Tuesday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Saturday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Places in Montana 42   Washington Sunday, November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) Locale of Washington State 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Geographical ID: The Gem State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Located in Wyoming 45   Utah Thursday, January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) Location: Utah 46   Oklahoma On this day in 1907 — November 16 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico On this day in 1912, January 6
(admitted) Land of New Mexico 48   Arizona Tuesday, February 14, 1912
(admitted) Territorial Status: Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) State of Alaska 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) State of Hawaii

A timeline of the ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress for submission to state legislatures for ratification. The Articles of Confederation were ratified by the required number of states (13) and went into effect on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation, which governed the states, were abolished on March 4, 1789, and the present Constitution, which governs the federal level, was [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777 2 Carolina del Sur 05 Février 1778 3 New York Thursday, February 6th, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 Primarily Used in: 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 Saturday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware On this day in 1779: 13 Maryland Tuesday, 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 in the territory between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups.
• 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 gave the people of Oklahoma and the 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 combined into one state.
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became a state thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

A look at the world outside [ edit ]

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