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 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 50 states are the most basic administrative divisions in the USA. The United States states have all the authority that is not specifically given to the federal government or expressly forbidden to the states by the United States Constitution. The federal government does not have jurisdiction over local matters, so states are responsible for things like regulating intrastate commerce, holding elections, forming local governments, establishing public school policy, and constructing and maintaining roads. Republican principles form the basis for each state's constitution and government, which is made up of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. [2]

Each state and its citizens have a voice in the Senate and House of Representatives that make up the federal Congress. 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 last 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]

According to the Constitution, Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 gives Congress the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union. Originally consisting of 13 states, the United States now includes 50. All new states have been granted full membership with no special treatment. [5]

See below for a chronological listing of 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. (An additional table detailing the ratification of the Acts of Confederation is provided below.) 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 succeeding state's admission date is a legally binding deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
admitted; approved Formed by 1   Delaware 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) [b]The Colony of Delaware. 2   Pennsylvania Thursday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former Crown Colony 4   Georgia It all began on January 2nd, 1788. [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut The Nineteen Eighty-First Day of the Year, 1788 [12]
(ratified) The Province of Connecticut as a Royal Colony 6   Massachusetts Saturday, 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   "South Carolina1" May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) British possession in the American colony of South Carolina 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) Virginia, Dominion of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Colony of the British Crown 12   In the state of North Carolina1 In the year 1789, on November 21st, [14]
(ratified) British North Carolina Colony 13   In the state of Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Province of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) There is a republic in Vermont. 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) Nine counties in Virginia's District in Kentucky(d) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) State located in the South-Western part of the United States 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) This is Indiana State 20   Mississippi It's the 10th of December, 1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois On this day in 1818 — December 3 — [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Sunday, December 14th, 1819 [24]
(admitted) States of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Boston, MA (Maine Federal Court District) 24   Missouri Observed on August 10th, 1821 [26]
(admitted) An Area of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The State of Arkansas 26   Michigan On this day in 1837, January 26 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Sunday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Independence, Texas 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) Specifically, the portion of Iowa's territory that is called 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Frontiers without government oversight / Mexican Cession (Part)[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon Day of the Week: 14 FEBRUARY 1859
(admitted) Part of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Monday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) Piece of Kansas Territory 35   There's no place like West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada Instance Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) States of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Aspects of the Colorado Territory1 39   North Dakota It all started on November 2nd, 1889. [38][i]
(admitted) Part of Dakota Territory 40   Geographical Indicator: South Dakota1 As of today's date, November 2nd, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington On this day in 1889, November 11 [42]
(admitted) Washington State 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Geographical Region Called Wyoming 45   Utah On this day in 1896: [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma The Date Was November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona On this day in 1912, February 14th,
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Geographical Term for Alaska 50   Hawaii Thursday, August 21, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress and submitted to the individual states for ratification. On March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation officially took effect. The Articles of Confederation, which governed the states, were abolished on March 4, 1789, and the present Constitution, which governs the federal level, was ratified [45]

State Date 1 Virginia In the year 1777, on December 16th, 2 Carolina del Sur On this day in 1778 — February 5 — 3 New York Dated: February 6th, 1778 4 Here in Rhode Island Tuesday, February 9, 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia The 26th of February, 1778 7 A New England State: March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Carolina del Norte April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey Wednesday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Dated: February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 1781.

See also [ edit ]

• The admission of California to the Union was one of the provisions of the Compromise of 1850, a set of congressional acts.
• Between 1854 and 1861, when Kansas was still part of the territory, a series of violent conflicts broke out between pro- and anti-slavery groups that came to be known as "Bleeding Kansas."
• 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.
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became a state thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Related Sites [ edit ]

• Watch videos from each state in the United States. History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com