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 separation of powers between the federal government and the individual states, all U.S. citizens are considered citizens of both the federal republic and the state in which they currently reside. [1]The full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

The 50 individual states make up the basic organizational unit 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. Concerns such as intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and non-federal road construction and maintenance fall under the purview of state governments. 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]

Congress is a bicameral legislature, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, in which all states and their citizens have a voice. There are two senators for every state and at least one representative, with the size of a state's delegation in the House of Representatives determined by that state's population as of the most recent decennial census required by the Constitution. Furthermore, the Electoral College, the body that elects the President and Vice President of the United States, allows each state to choose a number of electors to vote in the election equal to the sum of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

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

In the table below, you'll find information about 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 became independent nations in their own right on July 4th, 1776, and ratified the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, between 1777 and 1781. (See below for a table detailing the timeline of Acts of Consecration) Each state is listed in the order in which it ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became a part of the newly formed (and still existing) federal government. When a new state is admitted, the date on the list is the one officially recognized by law. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted or approved) Developed from 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) The Province of Delaware[b] 2   Pennsylvania Monday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony that was later made into a state 4   Georgia Time: Tuesday, January 2, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut 9 January 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Sixteen years ago today, on February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bay, a British Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Province of Maryland as a Private Property 8   Southeastern United States, Specifically, the State of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Originally, South Carolina was a British colony. 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, Royal Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominion of the Crown and Proud Colony 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Colony of the British Crown 12   The state of North Carolina1 In the year 1789, on November 21st, [14]
(ratified) Colonial North Carolina, a Crown Colony 13   Here in Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Colony under British Rule; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (The Commonwealth of Kentucky[d] has a District in Virginia that encompasses nine counties.) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Lands to the West of the Mississippi 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) The Northwest Territories, Fractional 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Louisiane's Territories 19   Indiana As of today's date, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois Wednesday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) A Section of Illinois 22   Alabama Thursday, December 14th, 1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Maine(f) District). 24   Missouri Monday, August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Section of Missouri. 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Region of Arkansas 26   Michigan Initially published: January 26, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The Florida Peninsula 28   Texas Monday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) The Texas Republic 29   Iowa Sunday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) This portion of Iowa Territory is known as: 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Sunday, September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Partial Minnesota Territory 33   Oregon Today in History (February 14th, 1859)
(admitted) Area of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Wednesday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) This portion of Kansas Territory 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in the state of Virginia that are part of the Trans-Allegheny metropolitan area. 36   Nevada Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) States of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Area encompassing present-day Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   There's a lot of room in North Dakota1 When: Tuesday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) State of Dakota (in part) 40   Dakota (State) On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) It's a piece of Dakota Territory. 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) This is Montana Country. 42   Washington On this date in 1889 [42]
(admitted) States of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) It's the state of Idaho. 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) There's a lot of Wyoming here. 45   Utah On this day in 1896: [43]
(admitted) Territory of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico Monday, January 6th, 1912
(admitted) Aspects of New Mexico State and Territory 48   Arizona Monday, February 14, 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959: January 3
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Thursday, August 21, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii, a Territorial State

Conventions to ratify the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the states by the Second Continental Congress. After being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781. 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 On this day in 1777 2 " South Carolina" 05 Février 1778 3 New York Thursday, February 6th, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island On this day in 1778 — February 9 — 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 Dated: November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware The First of February, 1779 13 Maryland Initially published: 2 February, 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.
• Conflicts between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups in Kansas Territory escalated into bloody clashes in the years leading up to Kansas's statehood in 1861, a period 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 the Dakota Territory being split into two separate states) and apply for admission to the Union as new states.
• With the passage of the Oklahoma Enabling Act, residents of the Indian Territory and the Oklahoma Territory were granted permission to unite under a single state government and were admitted to the Union as a single state. 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 ]

• Video Clips of the 50 United States History com
• When a country or territory was established as a nation. 50states com