Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

A state is one of the fifty individual entities that together make up the United States of America and share sovereignty with the federal government. 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."

For the most part, the United States can be broken down into its individual states. They have all the authority that is not specifically given to or prohibited 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, fall under the purview of state governments. Republican principles form the basis for each individual state's constitution and government, which consists of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, both of which are elected by the citizens of their respective states. At least one senator and one representative are elected from each state, with the number of representatives each state has in the House of Representatives determined by that state's population as of the last 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 equal to the sum of the number of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

The power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union is delegated to 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. The admission standards for each new state are the same as those for the preexisting states. [5]

Table 1 shows the dates of statehood for all 50 states. By signing on to the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states were officially established, and from 1777 to 1781, they all became part of the original Union of States by ratifying the Articles of Confederation. (The dates of each AoC ratification are listed in a separate table below.) These states are listed in the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed (and still existing) federal government. Every subsequent admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted or approved) Originating from 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) Settlement in Delaware [b] 2   Pennsylvania Sunday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Colonial Pennsylvania 3   New Jersey Yesterday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a Crown Colony 5   Connecticut Earlier today, on January 9th, 1788, [12]
(ratified) State of Connecticut, Royal Colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Free State of Maryland 8   Southeastern United States, Specifically, the State of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   It's in the Granite State, New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, Royal Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominion of the Crown and Imperial Colony 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) The New York Crown Colony 12   Carolina del Norte The 21st of November, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   In 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[c] 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) To be exact, Virginia has nine counties in its District of Kentucky(d). 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) State located in the South-Western part of the United States 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) A Place Called Orleans 19   Indiana Instance created: December 11, 1816
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) In the Mississippi Territory1 21   Illinois On this day, December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama This day in 1819, on December 14 [24]
(admitted) Alabama State 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) To be specific, the District of Maine[f] in Massachusetts. 24   Missouri Wednesday, August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Region of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) A Part of the United States Known as Arkansas 26   Michigan Initially published: January 26, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Territory of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa Last Updated: 28 December, 1846
(admitted) Region of Iowa 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Wisconsin Territory (part) 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially-Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Separate Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon Monday, February 14, 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas It all began on this date in 1861: January 29. [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in the state of Virginia that are part of the Trans-Allegheny metropolitan area. 36   Nevada October 31st, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Its Name for the State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Location of Colorado's Territory 39   That Place Called North Dakota1 It all started on November 2nd, 1889. [38][i]
(admitted) Regional portion of Dakotas 40   States of America: South Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana It all started on November 8th, 1889. [41]
(admitted) Location: Montana, USA 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) Geographical Indication of Washington State 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Location: Idaho, in the Territory 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) State of Wyoming 45   Utah Wednesday, January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) State of Oklahoma and Native American Lands 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona Sunday, February 14th, 1912
(admitted) Territory of Arizona 49   Alaska Dated: January 3rd, 1959
(admitted) The Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Articles of Confederation to the individual states for ratification. After being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781. 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 Colony State of South Carolina Dated: February 5th, 1778 3 New York Saturday, February 6th, 1778 4 Here in Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut Dated: February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia Sunday, 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 On this date in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware First day of February, 1779 13 Maryland It all started on February 2nd, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• One of the acts included in the "Compromise of 1850" legislation package was one that allowed California to join 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.
• 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 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 do the same. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as one state.
• The Alaska Statehood Act officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• The United States of America Video Archive History com
• "Birth dates of nations" 50states com