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. Being a resident of the United States means that you are a citizen of both the federal republic and the state in which you currently reside. (First) the full official names of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

As the most basic administrative divisions, states play a crucial role in the United States. They have all the authority that isn't given to or taken away by the federal government in the United States Constitution. Local matters, such as intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and the construction and maintenance of non-federal roads, are generally under the purview of the respective state's government. 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, both of which are elected by the citizens of their respective states. 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. In addition, 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 power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union is delegated to Congress by Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. 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. After signing on to the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states formally entered the Union of States in the years 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. All subsequent admission dates reflect the statutory deadlines established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(approved or allowed) Developed from 1   Delaware On this day in 1787: [8]
(ratified) The state of Delaware as a colony[b]. 2   Pennsylvania Thursday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Saturday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) The New Jersey Crown Colony 4   Georgia On this day in 1788, January 2 [8]
(ratified) Province of the British Crown in the Americas 5   Connecticut 9 January 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Monday, February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Royal Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under the Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Virginia Colony and Dominion 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Colony 12   State of North Carolina1 Wednesday, November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   That place called 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) The [c]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) The Southwestern Part of the Country 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Alaska, Northwest, and Canadian Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Louisiane's Territories 19   Indiana As of today's date, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) Frontier State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) In the Mississippi Territory1 21   Illinois As of today, December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Specifically, the area of Illinois that is now known as the territory of 22   Alabama Instance created: 14 December 1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Maine[f] District). 24   Missouri Saturday, August 10th, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Region of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Location: Arkansas, USA 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Region of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Democratic Socialists of America 29   Iowa Dated: 12/28/1846
(admitted) It's a piece of Iowa territory. 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Portion of Wisconsin Territory 31   California Date: September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Disordered Lands / The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon Thursday, February 14th, 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Earlier this month, on January 29th, 1861, [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   Appalachia's West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) A state in which 50 counties are located in the Trans-Allegheny area (Virginia). 36   Nevada The thirtieth of October, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Nebraska State 38   Colorado When: August 1st, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Location of Colorado's Territory 39   We're in North Dakota1. On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Region of Dakota 40   Location: South Dakota1 Earlier today, on November 2nd, 1889, [38][i]
(admitted) A Section of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) Place Name: Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Location: Idaho, in the Territory 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Where Wyoming Is Located 45   Utah It all started on this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) It's the State of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico The date was January 6th, 1912
(admitted) To the East, the New Mexico Territory1 48   Arizona On this day in 1912, February 14th,
(admitted) State of Arizona 49   Alaska Sunday, January 3rd, 1959
(admitted) Region of Alaska 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

When the Articles of Confederation were ratified [ 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 current federal government, established under the Constitution, succeeded the general government under the Articles on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777, December 16 2 A State in the Southeastern United States 05 Février 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 Here in Rhode Island Nineteen Seventy-Eighth Day, February 5 Connecticut A Precise Date: February 12, 1778 6 Georgia Friday, February 26th, 1778 7 Specifically, the State of New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Purpose: The State of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey On this date in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware The First of February, 1779 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 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.
• During the years 1854–1861, when Kansas was still considered part of the territory of Kansas, a series of violent conflicts broke out between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups, earning the region the nickname "Bleeding Kansas."
• The Enabling Act of 1889 gave the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the legal authority to organize state governments (with Dakota being split into two 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. calling for a vote on whether or not to admit the two territories as a single state.
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a member of the United States on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Links outside the org [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com