Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

One of the 50 individual entities that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government is known as a state. Due to the separation 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 in 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 the construction and maintenance of non-federal roads are generally under the purview of state governments. Constitutions based on republican ideals and governing bodies that include separate branches of government for executive, legislative, and judicial functions are found in each of the fifty states. [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. 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 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. There are now fifty states, up from the original thirteen that existed when the United States was founded in 1776. Each newly admitted state has been given full voting rights alongside the rest. [5]

You can find the official statehood dates for all 50 states in the table 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. (The dates of AoC ratification are listed in a separate table below.) These states are listed in the order in which they joined the new (and current) federal government upon ratification of the Constitution in 1787. Each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
admitted; approved Developed from 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware, a British Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania Yesterday, on the 12th of December, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) The New Jersey Crown Colony 4   Georgia Tuesday, January 2, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Crown Colony of Georgia 5   Connecticut Time Period: January 9th, 1788 [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) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Kingdom of the South Carolina Colonies 9   To the 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, a Royal Colony 12   This is the state of North Carolina1. On this day in 1789, November 21st, [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   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) (Kentucky is represented by nine counties in Virginia) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Territory to the Southwest 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) Region of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois The date is December 3rd, 1818. [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Sunday, December 14th, 1819 [24]
(admitted) Locational Clues: The State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri It was August 10th, 1821. [26]
(admitted) Area of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Thursday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The Florida Peninsula and Surrounding Area 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa This day in 1846, on December 28th,
(admitted) The Iowa Territory, Part 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Wisconsin Territory (part) 31   California The Nineteen Fiftieth Day of September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) In a state of disarray / the Mexican Cession, part 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) The State of Minnesota, or a Portion of It 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) A Section of Kansas 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada After midnight on October 31, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado On this day in 1876, August 1. [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   The State of North Dakota1 It all started on November 2nd, 1889. [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Thursday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington On this date in 1889, November 11 [42]
(admitted) The State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) This is the territory of Idaho. 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Where Wyoming Is Located 45   Utah Fourteenth day of the first month of 1896 [43]
(admitted) It's the State of Utah 46   Oklahoma It was on November 16th, 1907, that the first American [44]
(admitted) Bordering Oklahoma is Indian Territory. 47   New Mexico Day One, 1912: January 6
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona Monday, February 14, 1912
(admitted) State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959, January 3
(admitted) State of Alaska 50   Hawaii Tuesday, August 21, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Ratification dates for the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress and submitted to the individual states for ratification. On March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation became active after being ratified by all 13 states. The Articles of Confederation government was abolished on March 4, 1789, and the present Constitutional government has been in effect since that date. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777 2 This is the state of South Carolina. 05 Février 1778 3 New York Adopted: February 6th, 1778 4 Providence, Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 State of New Hampshire 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 A Date: Tuesday, November 19, 1778 12 Delaware On this day in 1779: 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 1781.

See also [ edit ]

• As part of the legislative package known as the "Compromise of 1850," California's incorporation into the Union was guaranteed.
• 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.
• Enabling Act of 1889, allowing citizens of the Dakota (to be split into two states), Montana, and Washington territories to organize state governments 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. The New Mexico and Arizona Admission Acts did the same for the people of those territories. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be combined into one state.
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska officially joined the Union as a result of the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• U.S. State Videos History com
• Dates of statehood 50states com