Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

Each of the 50 states in the United States is a sovereign nation in its own right, with equal authority from the federal government and the people. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. The full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

The 50 individual states make up the basic organizational unit 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. Local matters, 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 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. 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. 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 its congressional deputies. [4]

The power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union is vested in Congress by Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. U.S. statehood has increased from its original 13 in 1776 to its current 50. All new states have been given full voting rights, just like the others. [5]

See below for a chronological listing of when each of the 50 states became independent. Each of the original 13 states ratified the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, and thus became a state in July 1776 after agreeing to the United States Declaration of Independence. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) The order in which these states are listed reflects the order in which they voted to join the new (and current) federal government after ratifying the Constitution in 1787. All subsequent admission dates reflect the statutory deadlines established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted or confirmed) Incorporated from 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) Province of Delaware[b] 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Colonial Possession 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British Crown Colony 4   Georgia Sunday, January 2nd, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal Georgian Colony 5   Connecticut January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Conn., a former British colony and now a state 6   Massachusetts The sixth of February in the year 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Royal Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial-era colony 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   Primarily Used in: New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Dominion of New Hampshire 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Colony 12   Carolina del Norte As of the 21st of November, 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) The Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) In its District of Kentucky[d], Virginia includes nine counties. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) District of Orleans 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Tuesday, December 10, 1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois On this day in 1818, December 3: [23]
(admitted) Section of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) Location: Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Separate Section of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Saturday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) To occupy the Florida Peninsula 28   Texas On this date in 1845: [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) A Section of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Partial Wisconsin Territory 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Disordered Lands / The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) The State of Minnesota and Adjacent Lands 33   Oregon On this day in 1859, February 14th,
(admitted) Part of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Saturday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   State of West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) 50 counties in the state of Virginia that are located in the Trans-Allegheny region. 36   Nevada October 31st, 1864
(admitted) Region of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   It's in North Dakota1. Two thousand and eleven on November [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   Geographical Indicator: South Dakota1 The date was November 2nd, 1889. [38][i]
(admitted) A Section of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Located in the state of Montana. 42   Washington The Eleventh Day of November, 1889 [42]
(admitted) It's in Washington State. 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah Tuesday, January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) Geographical Utah 46   Oklahoma On this day in 1907 — November 16 [44]
(admitted) This is Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory. 47   New Mexico Monday, January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Islands of Hawaii

Rationality of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the individual states on November 15, 1777, after being approved by the Second Continental Congress. After the Articles of Confederation were ratified by all 13 states, they became effective on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation, the precursor to the present United States Constitution, were formally abolished on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777 2 The State of South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6: 4 A Place Called Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut As of this date in 1778: February 12 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 Element: New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 State of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Monday, February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland As of today, 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.
• 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 citizens of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the legal right to organize state governments (with Dakota being split into two states) and apply for admission to 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 ]

Web Resources [ edit ]

• State-specific video content from the United States History com
• Constitutional ratification and statehood formation dates 50states com