Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

A state is one of the 50 individual entities that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. 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 granted to or prohibited by the United States federal government in the Constitution. Local matters, 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 under the purview of the respective state's 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 senators and representatives from all 50 states. A minimum of one senator and one representative from each state are guaranteed by the Constitution; the number of representatives each state has in the House of Representatives is determined by the state's population as of the last decennial census. The Electoral College is the body that votes for President and Vice President of the United States, and each state gets a number of electors equal to its congressional delegation. [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 newly admitted states have been given full voting rights. [5]

Each of the 50 states' official statehood dates is listed below. When they signed on to the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the original 13 states officially became sovereign nations; between 1777 and 1781, they ratified the Articles of Confederation to form the first United States of America constitution. (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. Each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
acceptable; approved; recognized Based on 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware as a Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania On this day in 1787, December 12: [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Yesterday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) Kingdom of New Jersey 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut This day in 1788, January 9 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Colony of the Crown in the Bay of Massachusetts 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial-era province 8   Citing South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Carolina was a crown colony at the time. 9   To the State of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under the Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Dominion of the Crown Colony of Virginia 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Colony Under the Crown 12   Carolina del Norte Today in 1789: November 21 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a British Crown Colony 13   Location: 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) A total of nine counties in the Commonwealth of Virginia's District in the state of Kentucky[d]. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Continent's Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) North West Territories, Segment 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) Situated in the state of Indiana 20   Mississippi It's the 10th of December, 1817 [22]
(admitted) Area encompassing the present-day state of Mississippi 21   Illinois Time: Wednesday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Region of Illinois 22   Alabama The date is December 14th, 1819. [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Region of Maine(f): Massachusetts 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Specifically, a section of Missouri. 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan The 26th of January, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Those Parts of the United States That Are Currently Called 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa Friday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Separate Section of Wisconsin 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Section of Minnesota Territory 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this date in 1861: January 29 [33]
(admitted) Piece of Kansas Territory 35   The state of West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada October 31st, 1864
(admitted) It's in Nevada! 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Location: Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   The Great Land of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Friday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington Day that marks the 11th of November, 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) A Territorial Statement for Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) In the state of Wyoming. 45   Utah It all started on this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma The date was November 16th, 1907. [44]
(admitted) Including both Oklahoma and Indian Country as their own separate territories. 47   New Mexico Day One, 1912: January 6
(admitted) Region of New Mexico 48   Arizona Thursday, February 14th, 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska The date January 3, 1959
(admitted) Location of Alaska 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959, August 21st,
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

The dates of 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 the 13 states ratified the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781, they became law. The Articles of Confederation, the precursor to the present United States Constitution, were formally abolished on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777 2 State Name: South Carolina Instance created: February 5th, 1778 3 New York Friday, February 6th, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island A Date in History: February 9th, 1778 5 Connecticut Friday, February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia On this day in 1778, February 26 7 New Hampshire (state) March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Cary, North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware The First of February, 1779 13 Maryland The date was 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.
• The Enabling Act of 1889 gave the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the right to organize their own governments and seek admission to the Union as individual states (the Dakotas were to be split in half).
• The Oklahoma Enabling Act granted permission for the people of Oklahoma and the Indian Territory to organize a state government and be admitted to the Union as a single state. The New Mexico and Arizona Admission Acts granted similar permission 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 officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• U.S. State Videos History com
• Constitutional ratification and statehood formation dates 50states com