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. Given 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 make up the main 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. Issues of local concern are typically delegated to the respective state governments, which may include the management of intrastate commerce, the conduct of elections, the formation of local governments, the direction of public schools, and the construction and maintenance of roads that are not funded by the federal 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]

Congress, the federal legislature, is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and all states and their citizens have a voice there. 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. Furthermore, the Electoral College, the body that elects the President and Vice President of the United States, allows each state to choose a number of electors to vote in the election proportional to the number of its representatives and senators in Congress. [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. In the 240 years since the United States' founding in 1776, the number of states has increased from its original 13. 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. (A separate table with dates of AoC ratification is provided below.) These states are listed in chronological order according to when they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed (and still existing) United States of America. Each succeeding state's admission date is a legally binding deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted or approved) Constructed from 1   Delaware 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania On this day in 1787, December 12: [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey was a royal colony. 4   Georgia Two Hundred and Eighty-Eighth Day of the Year [8]
(ratified) Colony of the British Crown in Georgia 5   Connecticut It all started on January 9th, 1788. [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Sunday, February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of Massachusetts Bay, a British Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Kingdom of the South Carolina Colonies 9   That State of 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 Thursday, November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina was a colony established by the British Crown. 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) Republic of Vermont (Vermont) 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) The Commonwealth of Virginia (which includes nine counties in its District of Kentucky[d]). 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Part of the Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Located in the Orleans Territory 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) Locales in Indiana 20   Mississippi As of today, December 10th, 1817 [22]
(admitted) Places in the Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois This day in 1818, on December 3rd, [23]
(admitted) Regional Illinois 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) Geographical Area Including Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) The State of Missouri and Adjacent Areas 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Specifically, the Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Sunday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan, or the Upper Peninsula 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The Florida Peninsula 28   Texas Tuesday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) The Texas Republic 29   Iowa Tuesday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) (Of) The Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) An Area of Wisconsin 31   California On this date in 1850, September 9 [31]
(admitted) An Unorganized Area: The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Section of Minnesota Territory 33   Oregon Thursday, February 14, 1859
(admitted) Segment of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) Part of Kansas 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) 50 counties in the state of Virginia that are located in the Trans-Allegheny region. 36   Nevada The 31st of October, 1864
(admitted) Locale of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) A Land Named Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   That Place Called North Dakota1 Sunday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   To the South Dakota1 Instance Date: November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Partial Dakota Territory 41   Montana Monday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Montana, the Wild West 42   Washington Wednesday, November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Locale of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) In the state of Wyoming. 45   Utah Tuesday, January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) A Land Named Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico On this day in 1912, January 6
(admitted) It's the State of New Mexico 48   Arizona Earlier today, on February 14th, 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) State of Alaska 50   Hawaii Sunday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Islands of Hawaii

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the states by the Second Continental Congress. On March 1, 1781, after ratification by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation took effect. The Articles of Confederation were abolished on March 4, 1789, and the current federal government under the Constitution was established. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777 2 Southeastern United States, Specifically, the State of South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York Dated: February 6th, 1778 4 A Place Called Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut Friday, February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia The date was February 26, 1778. 7 A New England State: March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Specifically, the state of North Carolina. April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware A Day in History: February 1st, 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.
• A series of bloody conflicts between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups occurred in Kansas Territory between 1854 and 1861, a period known as "Bleeding Kansas."
• 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.
• By the Oklahoma Enabling Act, the people of the Indian Territory and the State of Oklahoma were granted permission to unite under a single state government and to seek admission to the Union. Similarly, the people of the New Mexico and Arizona Territories were granted permission to unite under a single state government and to seek admission to the Union. 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 ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• Definition of Terms: "Date of Statehood" 50states com