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 have equal sovereignty with the federal government. The United States is a federal republic in which the powers of the federal government and the individual states are equally balanced. This results in dual citizenship for all Americans. (First) the full official names 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. 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. In a republican system of government, each individual state has its own constitution outlining the roles of the executive, legislature, and judiciary. [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 Electoral College, the body that chooses the President and Vice President of the United States, allows each state to send a number of voters to vote there that is equal to the sum of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

New states may be Union" target="_blank">admitted into the Union as provided for in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. There are now fifty states, up from the original thirteen that existed when the United States was founded in 1776. All new states have been given full voting rights, just like the others. [5]

All 50 states and their respective dates of statehood are listed below. 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. (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 ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed (and still existing) United States of America. After that, each subsequent state's admission date is a legally binding statute. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(approved or permitted) Developed from 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) (b) the colony known as Delaware. 2   Pennsylvania Friday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Colonized Pennsylvania Province 3   New Jersey Thursday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey was a royal colony. 4   Georgia It all began on January 2nd, 1788. [8]
(ratified) During the time of the British, Georgia was a crown colony. 5   Connecticut This day in 1788, January 9 [12]
(ratified) The Connecticut Colony, a British Crown Colony 6   Massachusetts The 6th of February, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Boston, Massachusetts, a Royal Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Colonial Maryland 8   This is the state of South Carolina1. May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Province of South Carolina under the Crown 9   The state of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony of the Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the British Empire 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Colony of the British Crown 12   Cary, North Carolina1 The date of November 21, 1789 [14]
(ratified) Originally, North Carolina was a British colony. 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) The Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) With nine counties in its District of Kentucky[d], Virginia is a large state. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Alaska, Northwest, and Canadian Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) France's Orleans Territory 19   Indiana Wednesday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) Mississippi Country 21   Illinois Monday, December 3, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Partial Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Maine[f] District). 24   Missouri On this day in 1821, August 10: [26]
(admitted) Extent of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Monday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Province of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas Monday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa It's the 28th of December, 1846
(admitted) Regional Iowa 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) The portion of Wisconsin that was once known as the 31   California Sunday, September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon A Date: 14 FEBRUARY 1859
(admitted) An Area of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Wednesday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) Area Including Kansas 35   We're in the Mountain State. June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada It is now October 31, 1864
(admitted) Area Known as Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) A Land Named Nebraska 38   Colorado It all started on August 1st, 1876. [37]
(admitted) Specifically: The State of Colorado 39   Dakota Dunes State On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Region of Dakota 40   That Part of the Country Known as South Dakota1 Day of the Dead, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) State of Dakota (in part) 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Territory of Montana 42   Washington This day in 1889, November 11 [42]
(admitted) Place Name: Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah The date of January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma On this day in 1907 — November 16 [44]
(admitted) This is Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory. 47   New Mexico Starting on January 6th, 1912
(admitted) This is the State of New Mexico 48   Arizona The date February 14, 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska The date was January 3, 1959.
(admitted) The Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Kingdom of Hawaii

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the individual states by the Second Continental Congress. On March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation entered into force. Government under the Articles was abolished on March 4, 1789, and the present federal government under the Constitution was established. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia It was on December 16th, 1777, that 2 Carolina del Sur Tuesday, February 5th, 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 There's no place like Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia As of today (26 February) in 1778 7 The state of New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Carolina del Norte April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware On this day in 1779, February 1: 13 Maryland This day in 1781, on February 2nd,

See also [ edit ]

• A set of laws passed by Congress in 1850 known as the "Compromise of 1850" included a clause guaranteeing California's entry into the Union.
• 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 legal authority to organize state governments (with Dakota being split into two states) and apply for admission to the Union.
• The Oklahoma Enabling Act granted 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. It also granted the people of New Mexico and Arizona the right to organize a state government and seek admission to the Union as separate states. a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state is needed.
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became a state thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

A look at the world outside [ edit ]

• U.S. State Video Collection History com
• States' birthdays 50states com