Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

One of the 50 individual entities that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government is known as a state. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. [1]In their official state names, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Commonwealth of Virginia use the term commonwealth rather than state.

The 50 states make up the main divisions 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. Local matters, such as intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and the construction and maintenance of non-federal roads, are generally under the purview of the respective state's government. The government of each state is divided into an executive, legislative, and judicial branch, and is based on republican principles as outlined in the state's own constitution. [2]

Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and it includes representatives from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In the Senate, every state has two seats, and in the House of Representatives, every state has a minimum of one representative and as many as its population warrants, as determined by the most recent 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 representatives and senators from that state. [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. As of today, there are 50 states, up from the original 13. There has been no discrimination against any of the new states in their admission. [5]

Below is a table with information about when each of the 50 states became independent. In July 1776, upon agreeing to the United States Declaration of Independence, the original 13 states became sovereign nations; between 1777 and 1781, they ratified the Articles of Confederation, the country's first constitution, and formally joined the Union. (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 ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed (and still existing) United States of America. Each succeeding state's admission date is a legally binding deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
accept(ed) or (approved) Made up of 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware, a British Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania On this day in 1787, December 12 [10]
(ratified) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) The New Jersey Colony, a Crown Colony 4   Georgia The date was January 2, 1788. [8]
(ratified) Colonial possession of the British Crown in the American Colony of Georgia 5   Connecticut Wednesday, January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) The State of Connecticut, a Colony of the British Crown 6   Massachusetts Adopted: 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of Maryland as a Private Colony 8   Southeastern United States, Specifically, the State of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   State of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony of the Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominion of the Crown and Imperial Colony 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Colony Under the Crown 12   Carolina del Norte Thursday, November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) The North Carolina Colony was a Crown Colony. 13   It's in Rhode Island1. May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) The Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a British colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) Democratic Socialist State of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (Kentucky is represented by nine counties in Virginia) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) The Southwestern 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 On this date in 1816:
(admitted) Locales in Indiana 20   Mississippi On this day in 1817, December 10 [22]
(admitted) Geographical Region of Mississippi 21   Illinois Three Days After Christmas, 1818 [23]
(admitted) An Area of Illinois 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) Places in Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Maine(f) District). 24   Missouri Wednesday, August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) The Missouri Territory, Part 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Locale of Arkansas 26   Michigan Thursday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) This is Florida Country. 28   Texas On this date in 1845: [29]
(admitted) Independence, Texas 29   Iowa It's the 28th of December, 1846
(admitted) Region of Iowa 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Monday, September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Wilderness area / Mexican Cession (section)[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Part of Minnesota 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) Specifically, the Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Tuesday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) 50 counties in the state of Virginia that are located in the Trans-Allegheny region. 36   Nevada October 31st, 1864
(admitted) Land of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Territory of Nebraska 38   Colorado Date: August 1st, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Location of Colorado's Territory 39   State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Partial Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Day that November 8th, 1889, Began [41]
(admitted) Western United States region encompassing Montana. 42   Washington Adopted: 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) Territory of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Wyoming, the State 45   Utah On this day in 1896: [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma On this day in 1907 — November 16 [44]
(admitted) State of Oklahoma and Native American Lands 47   New Mexico January 6th, 1912
(admitted) Location: New Mexico, USA 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Friday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Islands of Hawaii

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

The Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the individual states on November 15, 1777, after being approved by the Second Continental Congress. 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 Columbia, South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York Saturday, February 6th, 1778 4 Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut Initially published: 12 February 1778 6 Georgia Friday, February 26th, 1778 7 State of New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 To the State of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey Thursday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware On this day in 1779: 13 Maryland Monday, 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 rather than a state, a series of violent conflicts broke out in the territory between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups.
• Statehood Act of 1889; allows citizens of Dakota (to be split into two states), Montana, and Washington territories to organize state governments 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 to decide whether or not the two areas should be united as one state.
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• States' birthdays 50states com