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 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 individual states make up the basic organizational unit of the USA. 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, both of which are elected by the citizens of their respective 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 most recent decennial census required by the Constitution. The Electoral College is the body that votes for President and Vice President of the United States. [3] Each state has the right to send a number of electors to the Electoral College equal to the sum of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

Congress has the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union per 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]

The table below details the dates of statehood for all 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 in the years between 1777 and 1781 by ratifying the Articles of Confederation. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the Acts of Confederation.) They are listed here 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
(approved or permitted) Originating from 1   Delaware Tuesday, December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Colonial Delaware[b]. 2   Pennsylvania Monday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Colonial Possession 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former Crown Colony 4   Georgia As of today, January 2nd, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Georgian Colony was a Crown Colony. 5   Connecticut 9 January 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Sixteen years ago today, on February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Massachusetts Bay Colony, a British Possession 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a Colonial Possession 8   In the state of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Carolina was a crown colony at the time. 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of New Hampshire, a British Crown Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) Kingdom of New York 12   This is the state of North Carolina1. The date November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a British Crown 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) District of Kentucky[d] (consisting of nine counties) in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Western Hemisphere's Southwest Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana Thursday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) Geographical Region Including Indiana 20   Mississippi Sunday, December 10th, 1817 [22]
(admitted) In the Mississippi Territory1 21   Illinois It's the 3rd of December, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) Places in Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri The tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Part of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Friday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) An Area Including Florida 28   Texas Dated: December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Disorganized land / the Mexican Cession, part [g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Part of Minnesota 33   Oregon On this day in 1859, February 14
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Wednesday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada October 31st, 1864
(admitted) Area Known as Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado One August Day in 1876 [37]
(admitted) Location of Colorado's Territory 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   It's in the Badlands of South Dakota1. On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Regional portion of Dakotas 41   Montana The date of November 8, 1889 [41]
(admitted) State of Montana 42   Washington The Eleventh Day of November, 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 Initially published: January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) A Land Named Utah 46   Oklahoma On this day in 1907 — November 16 [44]
(admitted) Territory of Oklahoma and Indian Territory 47   New Mexico On this day in 1912, January 6th:
(admitted) There's a lot of new territory in New Mexico. 48   Arizona Today in History (February 14th, 912)
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska Dated: January 3rd, 1959
(admitted) Geographical Term for Alaska 50   Hawaii Today in History (August 21st, 1959)
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

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. Following ratification by the required 13 states, the Articles of Confederation entered into force on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation were abolished and the present Constitution ratified on March 4, 1789, ushering in the modern federal government. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia In the year 1777, on December 16th, 2 An Acronym for the State of South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York Thursday, February 6th, 1778 4 The Ocean State, Rhode Island Wednesday, February 9th, 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 In the state of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Initial usage: 2/1/1779 13 Maryland The date is 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 of Kansas, a series of violent conflicts broke out between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups, earning the region the nickname "Bleeding Kansas."
• 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 granted 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. It also granted the people of New Mexico and Arizona the right to do the same. needing a vote from the people to decide if the two areas should be united as one state
• It was on January 3, 1959, that Alaska was officially admitted to the Union as a state thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

References outside the text [ edit ]

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