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

One of the fifty entities that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government is a state. The United States is a federal republic in which the powers of the federal government and the individual states are equally balanced. This results in dual citizenship for all Americans. Some states' official names include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state," such as in Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

The 50 states make up the main divisions of the USA. They have all the authority that is not specifically given to or forbidden to the federal government by the United States Constitution. 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. 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 every state and every citizen. Two senators and at least one representative represent each state in the Senate, while the size of a state's delegation in the House of Representatives is determined by the population of that state as determined by the most recent decennial census required by the Constitution. Additionally, 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 Constitution specifically gives Congress the power to add new states in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. There are now fifty states, up from the original thirteen that existed when the United States was founded in 1776. Upon admission, each new state joins the union on an equal footing with the others. [5]

The table below details the dates of statehood for all 50 US states. As of July 4, 1776, upon ratification of the United States Declaration of Independence by the first 13 states, they were recognized as independent nations; between 1777 and 1781, they ratified the Articles of Confederation, the country's first constitution, and formally joined the Union. Dates of AoC ratification are listed in a separate table below.) [6] These states are listed in the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the fledgling (and now established) United States of America. Each subsequent state's admission date is a legally binding statute. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
acceptance or approval Developed from 1   Delaware It was the 7th of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware as a Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania As of today (12 December 1787) [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Friday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, the Former Crown Colony 4   Georgia Sunday, January 2nd, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal Georgian Colony 5   Connecticut Time Period: January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a Colony under the Crown 6   Massachusetts On this day in 1788, February 6th, [8]
(ratified) Province of Massachusetts Bay, British Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Colonized Maryland Province 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of South Carolina, a British Crown Colony 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a British Crown Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Commonwealth of Virginia, Dominion of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Crown Colony 12   Carolina del Norte Dated: November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, the Crown Colony 13   To the State of 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) In its District of Kentucky[d], Virginia includes nine counties. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) In the South-Western Part of the Country 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana It was on this date in 1816 that the United States declared independence from France.
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi The date was December 10, 1817. [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Area 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama This day in 1819, on December 14 [24]
(admitted) Region of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri It was August 10th, 1821. [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Location: Arkansas, USA 26   Michigan Thursday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Friday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa Thursday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) Area of Iowa That Was Once Known As Iowa 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Date: September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) The Mexican Cession (Part): An Unorganized Region 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Territory in Minnesota, Sectional. 33   Oregon Date: February 14, 1859
(admitted) The State of Oregon, or (a portion of) the Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   Appalachia's West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada A Date Certain: October 31, 1864
(admitted) Land of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Territory of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Area 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Part of the Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Monday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington It all started on November 11th, 1889. [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Location: Wyoming, USA 45   Utah Thursday, January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) Territory of Utah 46   Oklahoma On this day in 1907, November 16 [44]
(admitted) It's both Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory. 47   New Mexico Dated: January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona On this day in 1912, February 14th,
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska This day in 1959, on January 3:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Sunday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Ratification dates for the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress and sent to the individual states for ratification. After being ratified by the necessary number of states (13 in this case), the Articles of Confederation took 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 Carolina del Sur On this day in 1778 — February 5 — 3 New York Friday, February 6th, 1778 4 This is the state of Rhode Island. Dated: February 9th, 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia Monday, February 26th, 1778 7 Element: New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 This is the state of North Carolina. April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware The First of February, 1779 13 Maryland The Date Is 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 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.
• For example, the Oklahoma Enabling Act gave the people of the Indian Territory and the State of Oklahoma the legal right to organize a state government and gain admission to the Union as a single state. The New Mexico and Arizona Admission Acts 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
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska officially joined the Union as a result of the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• The United States of America Video Archive History com
• State formation dates 50states com