Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

Any one of the 50 individual states that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal 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 United States is divided primarily into individual states. All authority not specifically delegated to the federal government or forbidden to the states by the United States Constitution is vested in them. Concerns such as intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and the construction and maintenance of roads not funded by the federal government are generally left to the discretion of the respective state governments. Constitutions based on republican ideals and governing bodies that include separate branches of government for executive, legislative, and judicial functions are found in each of the fifty states. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of senators and representatives from all 50 states. Each state has two senators and at least one representative, with the size of each state's delegation in the House of Representatives determined by the 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]

The Constitution specifies that Congress has the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. A total of 50 states now make up the United States, up from the original 13. All newly admitted states have been given full voting rights. [5]

Table 1 shows the dates of statehood for all 50 states. After signing on to the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states formally became independent nations in their own right and, between 1777 and 1781, ratified the Articles of Confederation to form the first United States of America. (A separate table detailing the ratification of the Acts of Confederation is provided below.) 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 admission date is a legally binding deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
acceptable; approved; recognized Produced by 1   Delaware Specifically: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) Settlement in Delaware [b] 2   Pennsylvania It was on December 12th, 1787, that the Declaration of Independence was [10]
(ratified) The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a colonial possession 3   New Jersey Yesterday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, the Formerly-Imperial Crown Colony 4   Georgia On this day in 1788, January [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) The State of Connecticut, a Colony of the British Crown 6   Massachusetts On this day in 1788, February 6 [8]
(ratified) Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bay, a British Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial-era province 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   To the State of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony of 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 Colony 12   Carolina del Norte The date of November 21, 1789 [14]
(ratified) Colony of the British Crown in North Carolina 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) [c]Republic of Vermont; 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (Kentucky[d] is included in Virginia's District, which includes nine counties.) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Aspects of the South-Western Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canadian Region of the Northwest 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana Wednesday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) Those Parts of the United States That Are Currently Cal 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) State of Mississippi 21   Illinois Monday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) An Area of Illinois 22   Alabama Sunday, December 14th, 1819 [24]
(admitted) In the State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) In the state of Massachusetts (Maine[f] District). 24   Missouri Date: August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) This portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) State of Arkansas 26   Michigan Thursday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Tuesday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) State of Texas as a Republic 29   Iowa The 28th of December, 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) Disordered Lands / The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Part of Minnesota 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) An Area of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas This day in 1861, January 29 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) State of Virginia (all 50 counties in the Trans-Allegheny area[h]). 36   Nevada As of today, October 31, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado Beginning on August 1st, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Colorado, the Territory 39   Location: North Dakota1 As of today's date, November 2nd, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   The State of South Dakota1. On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) State of Dakota (in part) 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Montana, the Wild West 42   Washington This day in 1889, November 11 [42]
(admitted) The State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 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 6 January 1912
(admitted) Aspects of New Mexico State and Territory 48   Arizona Today in History (February 14th, 912)
(admitted) Territorial Status: Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii When: 21 August 1959
(admitted) State or Province of Hawaii

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. After being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781. The current federal government, established by the Constitution, succeeded the general government under the Articles on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Monday, December 16th, 1777 2 Carolina del Sur 05 Février 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 That place called Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia Tuesday, February 26th, 1778 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 On this day in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware On this day in 1779: 13 Maryland Wednesday, February 2nd, 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.
• 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.
• The Enabling Act of 1889 gave the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the legal right to organize state governments (with Dakota being split into two 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. 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.
• The Alaska Statehood Act was passed on December 21, 1959, officially making Alaska the 49th state of the United States.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Links outside the org [ edit ]

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