Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

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 separation of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship with the United States and the state in which they actually reside. [1]The full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

Individual states are the most basic administrative divisions of the USA. They have all the authority that is not specifically given to or prohibited to the federal government by the United States Constitution. As a rule, it is up to the individual states to handle matters that affect its citizens directly, such as intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of municipalities, public education policy, and the building and upkeep of roads not funded by the federal government. Each state's government is structured similarly to the federal government, with an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. However, each state's constitution is based on republican principles. [2]

The United States 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 that state's population as of the most recent decennial census required by the Constitution. There's also the Electoral College, which votes for the President and Vice President of the United States, of which each state gets a certain number of representatives and senators to represent it. [4]

This 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. The United States' total number of states has grown from the original 13 in 1776 to the current 50. 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, the country's first constitution. (See the separate table below for the exact dates each AoC was ratified.) Here is a list of the states in the order in which they joined the new (and current) federal government after ratifying 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
assented to or confirmed Incorporated from 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) [b]The Colony of Delaware. 2   Pennsylvania Tuesday, 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 Starting on January 2nd, 1788 [8]
(ratified) A British Colony in the State of Georgia 5   Connecticut Day of the Year: January 9, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bay, a British Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Maryland Colony was a colonial possession. 8   A State in the Southeastern United States May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Province of South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   That State of New Hampshire1 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 Royal Colony 12   A Place Called North Carolina1 Dated: November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) Royal Colony of North Carolina 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) Independence in Vermont, a Republic[c] 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) Northern Virginia (including nine counties in its District of Kentucky[d]) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Territory to the Southwest 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) District of Orleans 19   Indiana Monday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) The Indiana Territory1 20   Mississippi The date was December 10, 1817. [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois On this day in 1818 — December 3 — [23]
(admitted) Section of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama This day in 1819, on December 14 [24]
(admitted) Alabam's Home State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) New England (Maine(f) District) Massachusetts 24   Missouri On this day in 1821, August 10: [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Location: Arkansas, USA 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The Michigan Territory1 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Today in 1845 (December 29) [29]
(admitted) The State of Texas as a Separate Republic 29   Iowa Dated: December 28th, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) (Of) Wisconsin Territory 31   California Tuesday, September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Disordered Lands / The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A section of Minnesota 33   Oregon Today in History (February 14th, 1859)
(admitted) A portion of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) Section of Kansas Territory 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Commonwealth of Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area [h]). 36   Nevada Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) Area Known as Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Its Name for the State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) To the west, in the Colorado Territory1 39   It's in North Dakota1. On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Part of Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) The date of November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) A Place Called Montana 42   Washington It all started on November 11th, 1889. [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) A Territorial Statement for Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Geographical Region Called Wyoming 45   Utah Initially published: January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) Territorial Claims in Utah 46   Oklahoma The Date Was November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) It's both Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory. 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) This is the State of New Mexico 48   Arizona It all started on this date in 1912: February 14
(admitted) The State of Arizona. 49   Alaska On this day in 1959, January 3:
(admitted) The Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Monday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Honolulu, 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 and sent to the individual states for ratification. After being ratified by all 13 states, 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 Dated: 12-16-1777 2 To the South The fifth of February, 1778 3 New York Friday, February 6th, 1778 4 Specifically, the state of Rhode Island A Date in History: February 9th, 1778 5 Connecticut On this day in 1778, February 12: 6 Georgia Sunday, February 26th, 1778 7 For the state of New Hampshire, see: March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 State of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey When: 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.
• There were a number of violent conflicts in Kansas Territory between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups in the years 1854-1861. This period is known as "Bleeding Kansas."
• Federal legislation passed in 1889 that made it possible for citizens of the Dakota (later split into two states), Montana, and Washington territories to organize state governments 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. a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state is needed.
• The Alaska Statehood Act officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Links outside the org [ edit ]

• Videos Relating to Individual U.S. States History com
• State formation dates 50states com