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. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. [1]The full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

The 50 states are the most basic administrative divisions of the USA. Each state is endowed with all authority not specifically delegated to the federal government or prohibited from being exercised by the Constitution of the United States. Concerns such as intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and non-federal road construction and maintenance are generally under the purview of state governments. Republican principles form the basis for each state's constitution and government, which consists 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. 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 number of electors a state can choose to represent it in the Electoral College, the body responsible for choosing the President and Vice President of the United States, is equal to the sum of the number of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

As stated in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution, Congress has the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union. There are now fifty states, up from the original thirteen that existed when the United States was founded in 1776. A new state is admitted to the union on the same terms as the existing ones. [5]

The table below details the official statehood dates for all 50 US states. As of July 4, 1776, upon ratification of the United States Declaration of Independence by the first 13 states, they were recognized as independent nations; between 1777 and 1781, they ratified the Articles of Confederation, the country's first constitution, and formally joined the Union. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) This list of states is presented in the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed and currently functioning federal government. Each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory deadline mandated by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
"(accepted or confirmed)" Originating from 1   Delaware On this day in 1787, December 7: [8]
(ratified) "Delaware Colony" 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) Jersey, a former British colony now a state 4   Georgia Two Hundred and Eighty-Eighth Day of the Year [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Colony 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) State of Maryland, a Private Colony 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) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the British Empire 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) The New York Crown Colony 12   Specifically, the state of North Carolina1. Friday, November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   State of Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Providence Plantations and Rhode Island, a Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic 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) Southwestern Acreage 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Northern Provinces 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana On this day in 1816 (December 11)
(admitted) Frontier State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Sunday, December 10th, 1817 [22]
(admitted) Mississippi Country 21   Illinois On this day in 1818, December 3: [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama The 14th of December, 1819 [24]
(admitted) Region of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) (Maine F District) Massachusetts 24   Missouri Saturday, August 10th, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Wednesday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The Florida Peninsula and Adjacent Lands 28   Texas Tuesday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texan Republic 29   Iowa Yesterday, on the 28th of December, 1846
(admitted) Partial Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) This is a section of Wisconsin. 31   California This day in 1850, on September 9 [31]
(admitted) Wilderness area / Mexican Cession (part)[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Area Including the State of Minnesota 33   Oregon A Date: 14 FEBRUARY 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Thursday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Commonwealth of Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area [h]). 36   Nevada Tuesday, October 31st, 1864
(admitted) Located in the state of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado Initial use: August1st, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   It's in the Badlands of South Dakota1. On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) The Dakotas, or a Portion of It 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington The Eleventh Day of November, 1889 [42]
(admitted) Western Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah On this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) Territory of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Territories of Oklahoma and Indians in Oklahoma 47   New Mexico The sixth of January, 1912
(admitted) State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska Three days into 1959
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Friday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Located in Hawaii's territorial waters

Dates of Articles of Confederation Ratification [ edit ]

In order for the Articles of Confederation to be ratified by the separate states, the Second Continental Congress approved them on November 15, 1777. 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 The State of South Carolina Friday, February 5th, 1778 3 New York Friday, February 6th, 1778 4 This is the state of Rhode Island. Saturday, February 9th, 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia A Date in 1778: February 26 7 For the state of New Hampshire, see: March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Geographical Indication: North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey Sunday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Day of the Sun, February 1, 1779 13 Maryland Wednesday, February 2nd, 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 gave the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the right to organize their own governments and seek admission to the Union as individual states (the Dakotas were to be split in half).
• It was the Oklahoma Enabling Act that gave the people of Oklahoma and the Indian Territory the legal right to organize a state government and gain admission to the Union as a single state. It was the New Mexico and Arizona Admission Act that gave the people of those territories the legal right to organize a state government and gain admission to the Union as separate states. calling for a vote to decide whether or not the two areas should be merged into one state.
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Hyperlinks to other sites [ edit ]

• Title: "Videos of the 50 States of the USA" History com
• States' birthdays 50states com