Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

For those unfamiliar, a state is one of the 50 individual entities that together make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government. Due to the separation of powers between the federal government and the individual states, all U.S. citizens are considered citizens of both the federal republic and the state in which they currently reside. [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. All authority not specifically delegated to the federal government or forbidden to the states by the United States Constitution is vested in them. 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. Republican principles form the basis for each state's constitution and government, which is made up of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of senators and representatives from all 50 states. There are two senators for every state and at least one representative, with the size of a state's delegation in the House based on its population as determined by 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]

The Constitution specifically gives Congress the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. Originally consisting of 13 states, the United States now includes 50. All new states have been given full voting rights, just like the others. [5]

The table below details the official statehood dates for each of the fifty US states. 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. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) This list of states is presented in the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed and currently functioning federal government. Each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted; approved) Made up of 1   Delaware Saturday, December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) Kingdom of Pennsylvania Colony 3   New Jersey Yesterday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia Two Hundred and Eighty-Eighth Day of the Year [8]
(ratified) Province of the British Crown in the Americas 5   Connecticut Sunday, January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Royal Connecticut Colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a Colonial Colony 8   In the state of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Colonial South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   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) The Commonwealth of Virginia, British Dominions 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Colony Held by the Crown 12   In the state of North Carolina1 Today in 1789: November 21 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Provost State of Providence Plantations and the State of Rhode Island 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) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Louisiana's Orleans Province 19   Indiana Tuesday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) This is Indiana State 20   Mississippi On this day in 1817, December 10: [22]
(admitted) To the West of the Mississippi River 21   Illinois On this day in 1818 — December 3 [23]
(admitted) Regional Illinois 22   Alabama Yesterday, on the 14th of December, 1819 [24]
(admitted) Its own separate jurisdiction, the State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) State of Massachusetts (Maine[f] District). 24   Missouri Monday, August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) State of Missouri (in part) 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Land of Arkansas 26   Michigan Saturday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) In the State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The Florida Peninsula and Adjacent Lands 28   Texas On this date in 1845: [29]
(admitted) State of Texas as a Republic 29   Iowa Tuesday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) State of Iowa, Part 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Monday, September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially-Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota. 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) An Area of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) Specifically, a section of Kansas. 35   In the state of West Virginia1. June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) In Virginia (all 50 counties in the Trans-Allegheny area [h]), 36   Nevada The 31st of October, 1864
(admitted) This is Nevada Country. 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado Monday, August 1st, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Area 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Partial Dakota Territory 40   It's in the Badlands of South Dakota1. This day in 1889, November [38][i]
(admitted) This portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana This day in 1889, November 8 [41]
(admitted) Located in the state of Montana. 42   Washington Wednesday, November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) Region of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho, or the 'Ida 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Wyoming, the State 45   Utah On this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma The Date Was Tuesday, November 16, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico Sunday, January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska Three o'clock on January 3, 1959
(admitted) Geographical Term for Alaska 50   Hawaii The date of August 21, 1959
(admitted) Located in Hawaii's territorial waters

Times of Articles of Confederation ratification [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress and sent to the individual states for ratification. On March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation entered into force. 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 This is the state of South Carolina. The fifth of February, 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 The Ocean State, Rhode Island Wednesday, February 9th, 1778 5 Connecticut The 12th of February, 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 This 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 Dated: November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware On this day in 1779: 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 1781.

See also [ edit ]

• The admission of California to the Union was one of the provisions of the Compromise of 1850, a set of legislative 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 themselves into states (with Dakota being split into two separate states) and to 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 gave the people of those territories the same rights. calling for a vote to decide if 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 ]

Links outside the org [ edit ]

• Various Videos Relating to Individual States in the USA History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com