Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

One of the fifty entities that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government is a state. Due to the separation of powers between the federal government and the individual states, all U.S. citizens are considered citizens of both 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."

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. 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. Government in each state is divided into an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary, and is based on a unique set of constitutional safeguards based on republican ideal [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. The number of representatives each state has in the House of Representatives is based on the population count from 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]

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. U.S. statehood has increased from its original 13 in 1776 to its current 50. All newly admitted states have been given full voting rights. [5]

Table 1 shows the dates of statehood for all 50 states. Following their approval of the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the original 13 states entered the Union of States in the years 1777–1781, and ratified the Articles of Confederation. (See below for a table detailing the timeline of Acts of Consecration) These states are listed in the order in which they joined the new (and current) federal government upon ratification of the Constitution in 1787. Every subsequent admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
approved of or allowed in Incorporated from 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) Province of Delaware[b] 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Sunday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Empire of the Crown: Georgia 5   Connecticut The 9th of January, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former Crown Colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Province of Massachusetts Bay, a British Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a Colonial Possession 8   State of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a former British colony 9   The state of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under British Rule 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of Virginia, Dominion of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) The New York 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) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (Kentucky is represented by nine counties in Virginia) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Lands to the West of the Mississippi 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Northern Provinces 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) France's Orleans Territory 19   Indiana Sunday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) Location: Indiana Territory1 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) Where the Mississippi River Meets the Gulf of Mexico 21   Illinois On this day in 1818 — December 3 — [23]
(admitted) Regional Illinois 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) (Maine F District) Massachusetts 24   Missouri Date: August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Monday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Specifically, the State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Tuesday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) TX Republic 29   Iowa Dated: 12/28/1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Monday, September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Wilderness area / Mexican Cession (part)[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A section of Minnesota 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861, January 29 [33]
(admitted) Area Including Kansas 35   The Mountain State, or West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) A state in which 50 counties are located in the Trans-Allegheny area (Virginia). 36   Nevada After midnight on October 31, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado As of today, August 1, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Land of Colorado 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Partial Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) Sunday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of the Dakotas 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Where We Live Is the Greatest Place on Earth 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) It's the state of Idaho. 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah On this day in 1896: [43]
(admitted) Locale of Utah 46   Oklahoma Tuesday, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Both Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory 47   New Mexico It all started on January 6th, 1912
(admitted) Land of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) Places in Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Those words were first spoken on August 21st, 1959.
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Events surrounding 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. On March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation became active after being ratified by all 13 states. The current federal government, established under the Constitution, succeeded the general government under the Articles on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia The 16th of December, 1777 2 Carolina del Sur Dated: February 5th, 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia Specifically on: February 26th, 1778 7 In the state of New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 A Place Called North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware The First of February, 1779 13 Maryland As of today, 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.
• Bloody Kansas refers to the many armed conflicts that broke out between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups in Kansas Territory between the years 1854 and 1861.
• 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 gave the people of Oklahoma and the Indian Territory the legal right to organize a state government and seek admission to the Union as a single state. A similar law gave the people of New Mexico and Arizona the legal right to organize a state government and seek admission to the Union as separate states. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state.
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became a member of the United States of America thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Linked external resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• A list of "Statehood Dates" 50states com