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 and shares power 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 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. 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. A republican form of government, with separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches, exists in each of the 50 states, all of which are governed by their own constitutions. [2]

U.S. citizens and residents from every state have a voice in the Senate and House of Representatives that make up the federal Congress. 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 electing the President and Vice President of the United States, is directly proportional to the number of senators and representatives from that state. [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. When a new state joins, it joins on equal footing with the others. [5]

Below is a table detailing the official statehood dates for each of the fifty United States' jurisdictions. After signing on to the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states formally entered the Union of States between 1777 and 1781 by ratifying the Articles of Confederation, the country's first constitution. (The dates of AoC ratification are listed in a separate table below.) The order in which these states are listed indicates the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed (and still existing) United States of America. Each subsequent state's admission date is a legally binding deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
accepted; confirmed Composed of 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) Colonial Delaware[b]. 2   Pennsylvania On this date in 1787: [10]
(ratified) Colonial Pennsylvania 3   New Jersey Yesterday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) Colony of the British Crown in North America 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Georgia Colony was a Crown Possession. 5   Connecticut On this day in 1788, January 9 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts On this day in 1788, February 6 [8]
(ratified) Boston, Massachusetts, a Royal Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a Colonial Possession 8   Citing South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) British possession in the American colony of South Carolina 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under the Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Imperial and Royal Dominion of Virginia 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, the Queen's Colony 12   Carolina del Norte As of the 21st of November, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Colony under British Rule; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (Kentucky is represented by nine counties in Virginia) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) A section of the Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Province of Orleans 19   Indiana On this day in 1816 (December 11)
(admitted) Hoosier State 20   Mississippi During the early hours of the morning of December 10th, 1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois On this day in 1818, December 3: [23]
(admitted) Partial Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Massachusetts (District of Maine[f]) 24   Missouri Wednesday, August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Section of Missouri. 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) To the East of the Mississippi River, Arkansas 26   Michigan The 26th of January, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Geographical 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 Wednesday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) Region of Iowa 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Part of Wisconsin was once known as the 31   California Dated: September 9th, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Disordered Lands / The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon The date was February 14, 1859.
(admitted) Specifically, the Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Monday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   We're in the Mountain State. June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area[h]). 36   Nevada Monday, October 31st, 1864
(admitted) Nevada State 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado Day of the Sun, August 1, 1876 [37]
(admitted) This is Colorado Country. 39   It's in North Dakota1. It all started on November 2nd, 1889. [38][i]
(admitted) Pieces of Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Part of the Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Location: Montana 42   Washington Dated: November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) In the state of Wyoming. 45   Utah The date of January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma Tuesday, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Lands in Oklahoma and Indian Country 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska Day of the Year: January 3, 1959
(admitted) Kingdom of Alaska 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Timelines for the 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. Following ratification by the required 13 states, the Articles of Confederation entered into force 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 2 A State in the Southeastern United States 05 Février 1778 3 New York Tuesday, February 6th, 1778 4 The State of Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut Tuesday, February 12, 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Cary, North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey On this day in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware On this day in 1779: 13 Maryland The Date Is 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.
• The years 1854–1861, just before Kansas became a state, were marked by a string of violent conflicts in the Kansas Territory between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups.
• In 1889, Congress passed the Enabling Act, which allowed the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories to organize themselves politically as states 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 seek admission to the Union as a single state. The New Mexico and Arizona Admission Acts did the same for their respective territories. needing a vote from the people to decide if the two areas should be united as one state
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became a state thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Related Sites [ edit ]

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