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 states, Americans hold dual citizenship with the federal republic and the state in which they reside. [1]The full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

Individual states are the most basic administrative divisions 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. 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, and it includes representatives from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. There are two senators and at least one representative from each state, with the size of each 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. 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 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. The United States' total number of states has grown from the original 13 in 1776 to the current 50. All new states have been granted full voting rights alongside all others. [5]

Below is a table with information about when each of the 50 states became independent. After signing on to the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states formally entered the Union of States between 1777 and 1781 by ratifying its first constitution, 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. Listed for each subsequent state is the legally mandated date of admission. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
formally recognized or approved Developed from 1   Delaware The 7th of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania Friday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) PA, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a Colony of the Crown 5   Connecticut January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Colony of Connecticut Under the Crown 6   Massachusetts This day in 1788, on February 6th, you could say: [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Located in the Northeastern United States, Maryland is a colony. 8   An Acronym for the State of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The New Hampshire Colony was a Crown Colony. 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   Carolina del Norte On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   This is the state of Rhode Island1. May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) Independent State of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) There are nine counties in Virginia's District of Kentucky[d]. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Territories to the Southwest 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana As of today's date, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) Places in the Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois Time: Wednesday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Specifically, the area of Illinois that is now known as the territory of 22   Alabama The 14th of December, 1819 [24]
(admitted) Lands in Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District 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 On this day in 1837, January 26 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Location of Florida as a Separate Political Entity 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Free and Independent State of Texas 29   Iowa On this day in 1846, December
(admitted) Piece of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A section of Wisconsin 31   California Friday, September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A section of Minnesota 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861, January 29 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   Appalachia's West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Commonwealth of Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area [h]). 36   Nevada Monday, October 31st, 1864
(admitted) Area Known as Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Area 39   The Badlands of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   State Name: South Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Day that November 8th, 1889, Began [41]
(admitted) Area encompassing the state of Montana 42   Washington On this date in 1889 [42]
(admitted) Western Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho, or the 'Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) States Constituting Wyoming 45   Utah Dated: January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) A Land Named Utah 46   Oklahoma Thursday, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Oklahoma and Indian Land 47   New Mexico Dated: January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona On this day in 1912, February 14th,
(admitted) Land of Arizona 49   Alaska It all started on this day in 1959, January 3rd.
(admitted) State of Alaska 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

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. By March 1, 1781, all 13 states had ratified the Articles of Confederation, making them legally binding. The current federal government, established under the Constitution, succeeded the general government under the Articles on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Wednesday, December 16th, 1777 2 Columbia, South Carolina The date was February 5th, 1778. 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 Providence, Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut The 12th of February, 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 Specifically, the state of New Hampshire. March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 A Place Called North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey This day in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware On this day in 1779: February 1 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 1781.

See also [ edit ]

• California's inclusion in the Union was made possible by the "Compromise of 1850," a collection 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.
• Enabling Act of 1889, allowing citizens of the Dakota (to be split into two states), Montana, and Washington territories to organize state governments 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 gain 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 to decide if the two areas should be united as one state.
• State of Alaska officially joined the Union on January 3, 1959, thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• Title: "Videos of the 50 States of the USA" History com
• Indicators of Statehood Dates 50states com