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. Given 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 50 states are the most basic political units in America. 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. 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 the Senate and the House of Representatives. At least one senator and one representative are elected from each state, with the number of representatives each state has in the House of Representatives determined by that state's population as of the last decennial census required by the Constitution. There's also the Electoral College, which votes for the President and Vice President of the United States, of which each state gets a certain number of representatives and senators to represent it. [4]

The Constitution clearly gives Congress the power to decide whether or not to Union" target="_blank">admit new states in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. The United States' total number of states has grown from the original 13 in 1776 to the current 50. 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. After signing on to the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states officially became independent nations in their own right and, between 1777 and 1781, ratified the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States. Ratification dates for the AoC are listed in a separate table below.) [6] States are listed in the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed (and still existing) federal government. Each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted or confirmed) Developed from 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) [b]The Colony of Delaware. 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Yesterday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former Crown Colony 4   Georgia On this day in 1788, January [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a Colony of the Crown 5   Connecticut It all started on January 9th, 1788. [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   To the South May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Originally, South Carolina was a British colony. 9   For the state of New Hampshire1, see: June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under the Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, the "Crown Colony" 12   Asheville, North Carolina1 On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The [c]Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) 9 counties in Virginia's District in Kentucky(d) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Area Located To The Southwest 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) North West Territories, Segment 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Places Located in the Province of Orleans 19   Indiana Tuesday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) Region of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) Geographical Region of Mississippi 21   Illinois The date was December 3, 1818. [23]
(admitted) Section of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) Location: Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) [f]Maine District, Commonwealth of Massachusetts 24   Missouri The tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) This portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Sunday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Today in 1845 (December 29) [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) A Section of Iowa 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Part of Minnesota 33   Oregon On this day in 1859, February 14
(admitted) The State of Oregon, or (a portion of) the Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) Specifically, a section of Kansas. 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada Monday, October 31st, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Region of Nebraska 38   Colorado Starting on August 1st, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Specifically: The State of Colorado 39   That Place Called North Dakota1 The date of November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) The State of Dakota, etc. 40   Dakota (State) On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Tuesday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Montana, the Wild West 42   Washington On this date in 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Geographical ID: The Gem State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah Thursday, January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico Day One, 1912: January 6
(admitted) A portion of the state of New Mexico 48   Arizona The Date Is February 14, 1912
(admitted) Arizona State 49   Alaska Wednesday, January 3, 1959
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Those words were first spoken on August 21st, 1959.
(admitted) Area encompassing Hawaii

Indicative dates for ratifying the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the states on November 15, 1777, after being approved 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 were abolished and replaced by the present Constitutional government on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777 2 Carolina del Sur Friday, February 5th, 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut On this day in 1778, February 12: 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 For the state of New Hampshire, see: March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 It's in the Tar Heel State, or North April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey Dated: November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware It all started on February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 1781.

See also [ edit ]

• The admission of California to the Union was a provision 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 granted the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the right to organize themselves into new states and join the Union.
• The Oklahoma Enabling Act granted permission for the people of the Indian Territory and the State of Oklahoma to join the Union as a single state, and the New Mexico and Arizona Admission Act granted similar permission for the people of those territories to join the Union as individual states. 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 ]

Connecting to the Outside World: Some Useful Resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• Terms for the Establishment of States 50states com