Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

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

All of the United States can be broken down into its constituent parts, but states are the most basic level. They have all the authority that is not specifically given to or forbidden to the federal government by the United States Constitution. Generally speaking, matters of local concern are under the purview of the respective state government. This includes, but is not limited to, the conduct of intrastate commerce, the management of elections, the formation of local governments, the direction of public schools, and the building and maintenance of roads that are not funded by the federal government. 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, from which citizens of all 50 states and the District of Columbia can elect their own representatives. In the Senate, every state has two seats, and in the House of Representatives, every state has a minimum of one representative and as many as its population warrants, as determined by the most recent decennial census required by the Constitution. The Electoral College is the body that officially votes for President and Vice President of the United States, and each state has the right to send a number of its residents to that body equal to its total number of congressional representatives and senators. [4]

The power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union is vested in Congress by Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. There are now fifty states, up from the original thirteen that existed when the United States was founded in 1776. All new states have been given full voting rights, just like the others. [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. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) The order in which these states are listed indicates the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed (and still existing) United States of America. Each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(approved or permitted) Formed by 1   Delaware Friday, December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware, a British Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania Monday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Province of Pennsylvania that is under Proprietary Rule 3   New Jersey Instance created: 18 December 1787 [11]
(ratified) Empire of the British Crown 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Colonial possession of the British Crown in the American Colony of Georgia 5   Connecticut 9 January 1788 [12]
(ratified) Kingdom of Connecticut 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Specifically, the state of South Carolina1. May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   Granite State, New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony of the Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Royal Colony and Dominated State 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Colony 12   Carolina del Norte On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) Kingdom of North Carolina 13   In the state of Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) Vermont's [c]Republic 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (Kentucky is represented by nine counties in Virginia) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) The Province of Orleans 19   Indiana Instance created: December 11, 1816
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois Wednesday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Maine[f] District). 24   Missouri The Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Its Namesake State of Arkansas 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Province of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The Florida Panhandle 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) The State of Texas as a Separate Democratic Republic 29   Iowa Dated: 12/28/1846
(admitted) A Section of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) The portion of Wisconsin that was once known as the 31   California The Nineteenth Day of September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Diffuse Government / The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Separate Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon Monday, February 14, 1859
(admitted) Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Sunday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   There's no place like West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Forty-five counties in the Greater Pittsburgh Area in Virginia. 36   Nevada Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) Nevada, the State 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Territory of Nebraska 38   Colorado Time Period: 1876-08-01 [37]
(admitted) Location of Colorado's Territory 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Area Including the State of Dakota 40   This is South Dakota1. Monday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) It's a piece of Dakota Territory. 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington Tuesday, November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) Location: The State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) State of Wyoming 45   Utah On this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) Locale of Utah 46   Oklahoma Wednesday, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Locations in Indian Territory and Oklahoma 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona Sunday, February 14th, 1912
(admitted) Land of Arizona 49   Alaska Day of the Year: January 3, 1959
(admitted) The Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Friday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Area encompassing Hawaii

Times of Articles of Confederation ratification [ edit ]

The Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the individual states on November 15, 1777, after being approved by the Second Continental Congress. After being ratified by the necessary 13 states, the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation, the precursor to the present Constitution, were formally abolished on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Tuesday, December 16, 1777 2 Carolina del Sur It was on this day in 1778, February 5th, that the Declaration 3 New York This day in history: February 6th, 1778 4 Specifically, the state of Rhode Island Monday, February 9, 1778 5 Connecticut Monday, February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia Tuesday, February 26, 1778 7 For the state of New Hampshire, see: March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Here in good ol' NC April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey A Date: Tuesday, November 19, 1778 12 Delaware Day of the Sun, February 1, 1779 13 Maryland The Date Is February 2, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• The admission of California to the Union was one of the provisions of the Compromise of 1850, a collection of acts passed by Congress.
• From 1854 to 1861, Kansas Territory was the site of a series of violent conflicts between pro- and anti-slavery groups 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 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 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 ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• Terms for the Establishment of States 50states com