Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

The 50 individual states that make up the United States of America are co-sovereign entities with the central government. Due to the separation of powers between the federal government and the states, Americans hold dual citizenship with the federal republic and the state in which they reside. Commonwealth is used in the official names of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia rather than state.

The 50 states make up the main divisions of the USA. They have all the authority that isn't specifically given to or prohibited 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 senators and representatives from all 50 states. 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 into the Union 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. New states join the union on an equal footing with the rest. [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 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 separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) Each of these states is listed in the order in which it ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became a part of the fledgling (and now established) United States of America. Each subsequent admission date is a statutory deadline mandated by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted; confirmed) Produced by 1   Delaware On this day in 1787: [8]
(ratified) [b]The Colony of Delaware. 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey was a royal colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) A British Colony in the State of Georgia 5   Connecticut This day in 1788, January 9 [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   The State of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   In the state of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under the Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Royal Colony and Dominion 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Crown Colony 12   The state of North Carolina1. Thursday, November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) The North Carolina Colony was a Crown Colony. 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Known as the Crown Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) Nine counties in Virginia's District in Kentucky(d) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Locations to the West 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) A Portion of the Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Louisiana (Orleans) Territories 19   Indiana On this day in 1816, December 11
(admitted) Its Location: The Indiana Territory1 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois Dated: December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) An Area of Illinois 22   Alabama Yesterday, on the 14th of December, 1819 [24]
(admitted) Locational Clues: The State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Maine(f] District) Massachusetts 24   Missouri Sunday, August 10th, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Extent of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan On this day in 1837, January 26 [28]
(admitted) Specifically, the State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The Florida Peninsula and Adjacent Lands 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) The Texas Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Piece of Wisconsin Territory 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Chaos-stricken regions / the Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Piece of Minnesota Territory 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) An Area of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Tuesday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) Area Including Kansas 35   In the state of West Virginia1. June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada October 31st, 1864
(admitted) States of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado It all started on August 1st, 1876. [37]
(admitted) Territory of Colorado 39   We're in North Dakota1. On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Partial Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) It all started on November 2nd, 1889. [38][i]
(admitted) Part of Dakota Territory 41   Montana 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) In the Idaho Panhandle 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) In the state of Wyoming. 45   Utah On this day in 1896: [43]
(admitted) Territorial Claims in Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico It all started on January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona Monday, February 14, 1912
(admitted) Land of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii On this day in 1959, August 21st,
(admitted) The Hawaiian Islands as a Territorial Unit

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 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 Saturday, December 16th, 1777 2 To the South Day of the Week: February 5, 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 Location: Providence, Rhode Island On this day in 1778 — February 9 — 5 Connecticut Initially published: 12 February 1778 6 Georgia Friday, February 26th, 1778 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Carolina del Norte April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Sunday, 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.
• Battles between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups in Kansas Territory broke out in the years leading up to Kansas's statehood in 1854–1861.
• In 1889, Congress passed the Enabling Act, which allowed the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories to organize themselves politically as states 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. asking for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state.
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became a state thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• ''Early states'' 50states com