Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

In the United States, each of the fifty individual states is a sovereign nation in its own right, with the federal government also having authority over its citizens. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, 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."

The 50 states are the main political divisions of the USA. They have all the authority that is not specifically granted to or prohibited by the federal government. In most cases, state governments are responsible for overseeing activities that affect only their respective territories, such as intrastate commerce regulation, election administration, municipal formation, public school policy, and the building and upkeep of roads that are not funded by the federal government. Each state has a government that includes an executive, legislative, and judicial branch, and a constitution based on republican principles. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of senators and representatives from all 50 states. Each state has two senators and at least one representative, 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. In addition, the number of electors a state can choose to represent it in the Electoral College, the body responsible for choosing the President and Vice President of the United States, is equal to the sum of its congressional deputies. [4]

The Constitution clearly gives Congress the power to decide whether or not to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. The original 13 states that made up the United States in 1776 have since been joined by another 39. All newly admitted states are treated on par with the others. [5]

The table below details the dates of statehood for each of the 50 US states. 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. (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; confirmed Based on 1   Delaware 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) [b]The Colony of Delaware. 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) State of Pennsylvania as a Private Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal Georgian Colony 5   Connecticut The 9th of January, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Sunday, February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial province 8   Southeastern United States, Specifically, the State of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal Province of South Carolina 9   The State of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, Royal Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominant Colony of the British Empire 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Colony 12   Carolina del Norte On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   That place called Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Providence Plantations and the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a British Crown Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The [c]Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) State of Virginia (which includes nine counties in its District of Kentucky[d]). 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Continent's Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) New Orleans Area 19   Indiana Dated: 12-11-1816
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: December 10th, 1817 [22]
(admitted) To the West of the Mississippi River 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Specifically, the area of Illinois that is now known as the territory of 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri When: August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) The State of Missouri and Adjacent Areas 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Tuesday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Territorial Government of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Friday, December 29, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa When: Sunday, December 28, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Separate Section of Wisconsin 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Ungoverned regions / Mexican Cession (part)[g]. 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Area Including the State of Minnesota 33   Oregon Sunday, February 14th, 1859
(admitted) Partial Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) (There are 50 counties in the Trans-Allegheny area of Virginia) 36   Nevada Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) It's in Nevada! 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Frontier State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   It's in North Dakota1. Day of the Dead, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   State of South Dakota1 When: Tuesday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) In the State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) There is a territory in Idaho. 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah Wednesday, January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) Utah, the Territories 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico The date was January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) Territorial Status: Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Geographical Term for Alaska 50   Hawaii Instance Date: August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

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

On this day in 1777, the Second Continental Congress voted to send the Articles of Confederation to the individual states for ratification. After being ratified by the required 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 An Acronym for the State of South Carolina Tuesday, February 5th, 1778 3 New York Tuesday, February 6th, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island Monday, February 9, 1778 5 Connecticut The date was February 12th, 1778. 6 Georgia Saturday, February 26th, 1778 7 New Hampshire (state) March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 State of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey Saturday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware On this day in 1779: February 1 13 Maryland On this day in 1781, February 2nd,

See also [ edit ]

• As part of the legislative package known as the "Compromise of 1850," California's incorporation into the Union was guaranteed.
• 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 New Mexico and Arizona Admission Act and the Oklahoma Enabling Act granted the people of those territories the right to organize a state government and become members of the Union. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be combined into one state.
• State of Alaska officially joined the Union on January 3, 1959, thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

References outside of the text [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• State formation dates 50states com