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

Each of the 50 states in the United States is a sovereign nation in its own right and shares power with the federal government. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. The full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

The 50 states make up the main divisions of the USA. They have all the authority that isn't given to or restricted to the federal government. Concerns such as intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and the construction and maintenance of non-federal roads are generally under the purview of state governments. Republican principles form the basis for each state's constitution and government, which consists of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. [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 every 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 in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. The original 13 states of the United States have since been joined by another 33, bringing the total to 50. All new states have been given full voting rights, just like all the others. [5]

The table below details the dates of statehood for all 50 US states. By signing on to the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states were officially established, and from 1777 to 1781, they all became part of the original Union of States by ratifying the Articles of Confederation. (An additional table with dates of AoC ratification is provided 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 legally binding statute. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
acceptance or approval Created by 1   Delaware The 7th of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware, a British Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania Friday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia This day in 1788, January 2 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut The 9th of January, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Royal Connecticut Colony 6   Massachusetts On this day in 1788, February 6 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Colony of the Crown of South Carolina 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under British Rule 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   The state of North Carolina1. On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) Royal Colony of North Carolina 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Province of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) [c]Republic of Vermont; 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) The Commonwealth of Virginia (which includes nine counties in its District of Kentucky[d]). 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Aspects of the South-Western Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Territories in the Northwest 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) State or Province Forming Part of the Province of Orleans 19   Indiana Time Period: December 11th, 1816
(admitted) Geographical Region Including Indiana 20   Mississippi Instance created: 10 December, 1817 [22]
(admitted) Location of the Mississippi River and Its Surrounding Lands 21   Illinois Wednesday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Territory in Illinois, Part 22   Alabama As of today, December 14th, 1819 [24]
(admitted) In the State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Maine[f] District). 24   Missouri Sunday, August 10th, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Section of Missouri. 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Locale of Arkansas 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) This is Michigan Country. 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Location of Florida as a Separate Political Entity 28   Texas Dated: December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa Yesterday, on the 28th of December, 1846
(admitted) Part of Iowa was once known as the Iowa Territory. 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Area of Wisconsin That Was Once Called the Wisconsin Territory 31   California Dated: September 9th, 1850 [31]
(admitted) The Mexican Cession (Part): An Unorganized Region 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Split off of Minnesota 33   Oregon Date: February 14, 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas The 29th of January, 1861 [33]
(admitted) The State of Kansas, or Part of It 35   Appalachia's West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Forty-five counties in the Greater Pittsburgh Area in Virginia. 36   Nevada The 31st of October, 1864
(admitted) In the State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Region of Colorado 39   The State of North Dakota1 When: Tuesday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) This portion of Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) The date of November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Regional portion of Dakotas 41   Montana It all started on November 8th, 1889. [41]
(admitted) A Place Called Montana 42   Washington Tuesday, November 11th, 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 The date January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico January 6th, 1912
(admitted) An Area Now Part of New Mexico 48   Arizona As of today (14 February 1912)
(admitted) Territory of Arizona 49   Alaska It all started on this day in 1959, January 3rd.
(admitted) In Alaska's case, this means the territory itself. 50   Hawaii When: 21 August 1959
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Ratification of 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 13 states, the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation were abolished on March 4, 1789, and the present federal government under the Constitution was established. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Friday, December 16th, 1777 2 Carolina del Sur 05 Février 1778 3 New York Dated: February 6th, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut The 12th of February, 1778 6 Georgia Wednesday, February 26th, 1778 7 This 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 A Date: Tuesday, November 19, 1778 12 Delaware The First of February, 1779 13 Maryland The date was 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.
• 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 their respective territories. calling for a vote to decide whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state.
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

To other sites [ edit ]

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