Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

One of the fifty entities that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government is a state. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, all U.S. citizens hold dual citizenship. Unlike other states, [1]Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all have "commonwealth" in their official state names.

The fifty states constitute the most basic administrative divisions of the USA. When it comes to authority, they have everything the federal government doesn't and can't. 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. Each of the fifty states has a government that consists of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch, all of which are established by a constitution based on 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 last 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 representatives and senators to Washington equal to the sum of its representatives 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. The original 13 states of the United States have since grown to 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. (A separate table detailing the ratification of the Acts of Confederation is provided 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. If you look at the list of admitting states, you'll see the official date established by law. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted or approved) Constructed from 1   Delaware Seventh of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) [b]The Colony of Delaware. 2   Pennsylvania It was on December 12th, 1787, that the Declaration of [10]
(ratified) PA, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) Imperial Province of New Jersey 4   Georgia The date was January 2nd, 1788. [8]
(ratified) Kingdom of Georgia 5   Connecticut 9 January 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony and now a state 6   Massachusetts Thursday, February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Province of Massachusetts Bay, British Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Province of Maryland that is currently under private ownership 8   "South Carolina1" 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, Royal Colony and Dominated State 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Colony 12   This is the state of North Carolina1. This day in 1789, November 21 [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 [c]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) Continent's Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Northern Provinces 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) State or Province Forming Part of the Province of Orleans 19   Indiana Monday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) States of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) Places in the Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Specifically, the area of Illinois that is now known as the territory of 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) In the state of Massachusetts (Maine[f] District). 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Part of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan The 26th of January, 1837 [28]
(admitted) State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Geographical Florida 28   Texas Saturday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) State of Texas as a Separate Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) Specifically, the portion of Iowa's territory that is called 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A section of Wisconsin 31   California Friday, September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) State of Minnesota and Adjacent Lands 33   Oregon On this day in 1859 — February 14
(admitted) Area of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861, January 29: [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   We're in the Mountain State. June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) State of Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area [h]). 36   Nevada Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) In the State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado Time Period: 1876-08-01 [37]
(admitted) Territory of Colorado 39   The state of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Regional portion of Dakotas 40   A State in the Midwestern U.S. On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Region of Dakota 41   Montana Wednesday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington Sunday, November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah Wednesday, January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma Tuesday, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) An Area Now Part of New Mexico 48   Arizona Wednesday, February 14th, 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska The date January 3, 1959
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Honolulu, Hawaii

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the states by the Second Continental Congress. After the 13 states ratified the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781, they became law. 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 Dated: December 16th, 1777 2 Southeastern United States, Specifically, the State of South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut Dated: February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 Element: New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 A Place Called North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Initially, on February 1, 1779 13 Maryland This day in 1781, on February 2nd,

See also [ edit ]

• The admission of California to the Union was a part of the Compromise of 1850, a set of legislative acts passed by Congress.
• A series of bloody conflicts between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups occurred in Kansas Territory between 1854 and 1861, a period known as "Bleeding Kansas."
• 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 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 to decide whether or not the two areas should be merged into one state.
• Upon passage of the Alaska Statehood Act on December 2, 1958, Alaska was officially admitted to the Union as the 49th state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Websites outside the scope of this paper [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• dates of statehood 50states com