Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

The 50 individual states that make up the United States are co-sovereign entities with the central government. Due to the separation of powers that exists in the United States, each individual citizen has dual citizenship: that of the federal republic and the state in which they currently reside. [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 make up the main divisions of the USA. In other words, they have all the authority that isn't specifically given to or forbidden to the federal government in 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. In a republican system of government, each individual state has its own constitution outlining the roles of the executive, legislature, and judiciary. [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 each state, with the size of each state's delegation in the House of Representatives determined by that state's population as of the last 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 the number of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

The 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. From its original thirteen in 1776 to its current fifty, the United States has undergone tremendous growth since its inception. All newly admitted states have been given full voting rights. [5]

Below is a table with information about when each of the 50 states became independent. 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. (An additional table detailing the ratification of the Acts of Confederation is provided below.) The order in which these states are listed reflects the order in which they voted to join 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
(accepted or approved) Originating from 1   Delaware On this day in 1787, December 7 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania Yesterday, on the 12th of December, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Friday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788, January [8]
(ratified) A British Colony in the State of Georgia 5   Connecticut Earlier today, on January 9th, 1788, [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Province of Maryland as a Private Property 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   This 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, the Crown Colony" 12   Carolina del Norte When: Tuesday, November 21, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Providence Plantations and Rhode Island, a Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic 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) Territories to the Southwest 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Northwest Territories (portion of) 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 Monday, December 10, 1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois Time: Wednesday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Area of Illinois 22   Alabama Today in History (December 14th, 819) [24]
(admitted) Located in Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Maine(f] District) Massachusetts 24   Missouri Monday, August 10, 1821 [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 State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Wednesday, December 29, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa It's the 28th of December, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Partial Wisconsin Territory 31   California Date: September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) In a state of disarray / the Mexican Cession, part 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon Monday, February 14, 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861, January 29 [33]
(admitted) This portion of Kansas Territory 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in the state of Virginia that are part of the Trans-Allegheny metropolitan area. 36   Nevada When October 31st, 1864 rolled around,
(admitted) A Land Named Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Aspects of the Colorado Territory1 39   The Great Land of North Dakota1 The date of November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) It all started on November 2nd, 1889. [38][i]
(admitted) Section of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Western United States region encompassing Montana. 42   Washington Sunday, November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) A Territorial Statement for Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Places in Wyoming 45   Utah On this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) In the State of Utah 46   Oklahoma The Date Was November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Including both Oklahoma and Indian Country as their own separate territories. 47   New Mexico A Date: January 6, 1912
(admitted) Land of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) Location: Arizona 49   Alaska The date January 3, 1959
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Wednesday, August 21, 1959
(admitted) Hawaiian Home Islands

Dates of Articles of Confederation ratification [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress and sent to the individual states for ratification. Once all 13 states ratified the Articles of Confederation, they became effective on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation, the predecessor to the present Constitution, were abolished on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Friday, December 16th, 1777 2 " South Carolina" On this day in 1778 - February 5 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 This is the state of Rhode Island. 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia On this day in 1778, February 26 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 Wednesday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Starting on February 1st, 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 collection of 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.
• This was made possible by the Enabling Act of 1889, which allowed the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories to organize themselves politically as states (with Dakota being split in half) and apply for admission to the Union.
• The Oklahoma Enabling Act gave the people of Oklahoma and 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 the people of those territories. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be combined into one state.
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became a state thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

A look at the world outside [ edit ]

• The United States of America Video Archive History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com