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. Four U.S. states—Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—have commonwealth in their official names instead of state.

The fifty states are the main administrative divisions of the USA. They have all the authority that isn't given to or restricted to the federal government under 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 Generally speaking, republican principles form the basis for each individual state's constitution and government, which is made up of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. [2]

The U.S. 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. 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. Moreover, the Electoral College, the body that chooses the President and Vice President of the United States, grants each state a number of electors equal to the sum of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

The Constitution specifically gives Congress the power to add new states in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. 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]

Below is a table with information about when each of the 50 states became independent. The first 13 states accepted the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, and they ratified the Articles of Confederation, the country's first constitution, and joined the first Union of States between 1777 and 1781. Ratification dates for the AoC are listed in a separate table below.) [6] 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 succeeding state's admission date is a statutory deadline mandated by federal law. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted or approved) Produced by 1   Delaware Sunday, December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania Sunday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) The Pennsylvania Colony as a Colonial Establishment 3   New Jersey Dated: December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia The date was January 2, 1788. [8]
(ratified) The Georgia Colony was a Crown Possession. 5   Connecticut Time Period: January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony and now a state 6   Massachusetts Sixteen years ago today, on February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal Colony of Massachusetts Bay 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of Maryland, a Private Colony 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Colony of the Crown of South Carolina 9   The state of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a British Crown Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominant Colony of the British Empire 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, the Queen's Colony 12   To the State of North Carolina1 The date of November 21, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   To the State of 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) (Kentucky is represented by nine counties in Virginia) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) States Constituting the South-Western Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) North West Territories, Segment 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana The Eleventh of December, 1816
(admitted) Location: Indiana Territory1 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) Where the Mississippi River Meets the Gulf of Mexico 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Portion of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama It was on this date in 1819, December 14th, that [24]
(admitted) This is Alabama Country. 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Province of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Extent of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Saturday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) A Territorial Statement for Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Friday, December 29, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa Thursday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) Section of Iowa That Was Once Known As 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Section of Wisconsin 31   California This day in 1850, on September 9 [31]
(admitted) Frontiers without government oversight / Mexican Cession (Part)[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon Date: February 14, 1859
(admitted) The State of Oregon and Adjacent Areas 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) In the State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Area 39   It's in North Dakota1. The Date Was November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Part of the Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) This is Montana Country. 42   Washington Dated: November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) The State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Places in Wyoming 45   Utah On this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma The Date Was November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) This is Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory. 47   New Mexico Initially published: January 6, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona A Date: February 14, 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii On this day in 1959, August 21st,
(admitted) Hawai'ian Acquired Territory

Times of Articles of Confederation ratification [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress for submission to state legislatures for ratification. After being ratified by the required 13 states, the Articles of Confederation became effective 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 Wednesday, December 16th, 1777 2 Carolina del Sur 05 Février 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6: 4 Location: Rhode Island Earlier today, on February 9th, 1778, 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia On this day in 1778, February 26th, 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Asheville, North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey Wednesday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware A Day in History: February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 1781.

See also [ edit ]

• Among the many legislative acts that made up the "Compromise of 1850," the one that led to California's eventual admission to the Union was the California Gold Clause.
• 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.
• The Oklahoma Enabling Act gave 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, which officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• dates of statehood 50states com