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 share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of the separation of powers that exists between the federal government and the individual states, all U.S. citizens have dual citizenship. In their official state names, Commonwealth states like Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia distinguish themselves from other states by using the term "commonwealth."

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 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. The government of each state is divided into an executive, legislative, and judicial branch, and it is based on a constitution written in accordance with republican principles. [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. There's also the Electoral College, which votes for the President and Vice President of the United States, of which each state gets a certain number of representatives and senators to represent it. [4]

Constitutional law states that Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 gives Congress the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states to the Union. U.S. statehood has increased from its original 13 in 1776 to its current 50. All newly admitted states have been given full voting rights. [5]

Below is a table with information about when each of the 50 states became independent. In July 1776, upon agreeing to the United States Declaration of Independence, the first 13 colonies became states; between 1777 and 1781, they ratified the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, and became full members of the Union. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) These states are listed in the order in which they joined the new (and current) federal government upon ratification of the Constitution in 1787. For each succeeding state, the enacted date of admission is shown. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted or confirmed) Produced by 1   Delaware Specifically: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware, a British Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania Thursday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey 18 December 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia Time: Tuesday, January 2, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Georgia Colony was a Crown Colony. 5   Connecticut Nineteen Eighty-Eighth Day, January [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Thursday, February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachussetts 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) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   Specifically, the state of New Hampshire1. June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal New Hampshire 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 Colony Held in Trust for the Crown 12   Cary, North Carolina1 The date of November 21, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony. 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Kingdom of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) It's a republic in Vermont. 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (Kentucky is represented by nine counties in Virginia) 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) Region of the Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Located in the Orleans Territory 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) This is Indiana State 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) Where the Mississippi River Meets the Gulf of Mexico 21   Illinois The date was December 3, 1818. [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Location: Maine(f) District, Massachusetts 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Section of Missouri. 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) State of Arkansas 26   Michigan Thursday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Geographical Region of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Region of Florida 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) Partial Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Part of Wisconsin was once known as the 31   California Saturday, September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Mexican Cession [g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Section of Minnesota Territory 33   Oregon Today in History (February 14th, 1859)
(admitted) Segment of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Saturday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) In Virginia (all 50 counties in the Trans-Allegheny area [h]), 36   Nevada A Date Certain: October 31, 1864
(admitted) It's in Nevada! 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) In the State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The State of Colorado 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Partial Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) The date of November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Partial Dakota Territory 41   Montana Monday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) That Part of the Country Known as Montana 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) A Territorial Statement for Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah On this day in 1896: [43]
(admitted) Location: Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico It all started on January 6th, 1912
(admitted) State of New Mexico 48   Arizona Monday, February 14, 1912
(admitted) Territory of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Friday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Kingdom of Hawaii

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On this day in 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 Articles of Confederation were abolished on March 4, 1789, and the present federal government under the Constitution was established. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777 2 To the South 05 Février 1778 3 New York Dated: February 6th, 1778 4 Here in Rhode Island Day of the Week: February 9, 1778 5 Connecticut As of this date in 1778: February 12 6 Georgia Friday, February 26th, 1778 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 In the state of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey Monday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware First day of February, 1779 13 Maryland Wednesday, February 2nd, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• The admission of California to the Union was a part of the Compromise of 1850, a collection of 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 people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the right to organize their own governments and seek admission to the Union as individual states (the Dakotas were to be split in half).
• 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 the people of those territories. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as one state.
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a member of the United States on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

References outside the text [ edit ]

• Videos of the 50 United States History com
• A list of "Statehood Dates" 50states com