Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

Among the fifty nations that make up the United States, a state is one of the entities that holds some degree of independence but not complete autonomy. 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 fifty states are the main administrative divisions of the USA. They hold all authority not specifically given to or forbidden to the federal government by the United States Constitution. In most cases, local matters that affect a state's citizens fall under the purview of that state's government. This includes, but is not limited to, intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and the construction and maintenance of roads that are not funded by the federal government. Each state has a government that includes an executive, legislative, and judicial branch, and a constitution based on republican principles. [2]

Congress, the United States' bicameral legislature, consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and all states and their citizens are guaranteed a voice there. 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. Furthermore, the Electoral College, the body that elects the President and Vice President of the United States, allows each state to choose a number of electors to vote in the Electoral College equal to the sum of the state's representatives and senators in Congress. [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. There are now fifty states, up from the original thirteen that existed when the United States was founded in 1776. All new states are fully integrated into the union. [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. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) These states are listed in the order in which they joined the new (and current) federal government upon ratification of the Constitution in 1787. The dates of admission for subsequent states are those officially recognized by law. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
"(accepted or confirmed)" Developed from 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, the former Crown Colony 4   Georgia Time: Tuesday, January 2, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Colonial possession of the British Crown in the American Colony of Georgia 5   Connecticut This day in 1788, January 9 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Monday, February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Province of Massachusetts Bay, a British Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of South Carolina, a British Crown Colony 9   A New England State: 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 Crown Colony 12   Carolina del Norte When: Tuesday, November 21, 1789 [14]
(ratified) Colony of the British Crown in North Carolina 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a Colony of the British Crown 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) We are a republic in Vermont. 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (Kentucky is represented by nine counties in Virginia) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Aspects of the South-Western 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 This day in 1816, on December 11
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois It's the 3rd of December, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) Located in Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri The tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan This day in 1837, on January 26th, [28]
(admitted) Territory of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The Florida Peninsula and Adjacent Lands 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa This day in 1846, on December 28th,
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Piece of Wisconsin Territory 31   California Dated: September 9th, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Mexican Cession [g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon The 14th of February, 1859
(admitted) State of Oregon and Adjacent Areas 34   Kansas On this day in 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 Tuesday, October 31st, 1864
(admitted) Places in Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Geographical Region Known As Nebraska 38   Colorado On this day in 1876, the world changed. [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   Geographical Location: North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   That Part of the Country Known as South Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Earlier this week, on November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Places in Montana 42   Washington This day in 1889, November 11 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Colorado State 45   Utah On this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico January 6th, 1912
(admitted) An Area Now Part of New Mexico 48   Arizona Monday, February 14, 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Day of the Moon, August 21, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii, a territory

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Articles of Confederation to the individual states for ratification. As of March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation were in effect, having been 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 On this day in 1777 2 Carolina del Sur 05 Février 1778 3 New York This day in history: February 6th, 1778 4 It's in Rhode Island. Dated: February 9th, 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia Sunday, February 26th, 1778 7 It's in the Granite State, 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 Saturday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Initial usage: 2/1/1779 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 1781.

See also [ edit ]

• In the Compromise of 1850, a group of bills was passed by Congress; one of these bills guaranteed California's entry into the Union.
• 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.
• The Enabling Act of 1889 gave the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the legal right to organize state governments (with the Dakota Territory being split into two separate states) and apply for admission to the Union as new states.
• 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. The New Mexico and Arizona Admission Acts granted similar rights to the people of those territories. a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state is needed.
• Effective January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became the 49th state in the Union thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

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