Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

The 50 individual states that make up the United States are co-sovereign entities with the central government. Because of the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. When referring to their full legal names, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia use the term "commonwealth" instead of "state."

The 50 states are the most basic administrative divisions of the USA. 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 the construction and maintenance of roads not funded by the federal government, are generally under the purview of the respective state's government. Republican principles form the basis for each 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 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 send a number of voters to vote for president and vice president equal to the sum of its Senators and Representatives in Congress. [4]

Congress has the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union per Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. The original 13 states of the United States have since been joined by another 33, bringing the total to 50. All newly admitted states have been given full voting rights. [5]

You can find the official statehood dates for all 50 states in the table below. First accepting the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states ratified the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, one by one between 1777 and 1781. Dates of AoC ratification are listed in a separate table below.) [6] The order in which these states are listed indicates the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed (and still existing) United States of America. Each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted; approved) Prompted by 1   Delaware On this day in 1787, December 7 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Tuesday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) The New Jersey Colony, a Crown Colony 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a Crown Colony 5   Connecticut 9 January 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony and now a state 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Boston, Massachusetts, a Royal 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   Primarily Used in: New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Dominion of New Hampshire 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Commonwealth of Virginia, British Dominions 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Crown Colony 12   This is the state of North Carolina1. On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) British North Carolina Colony 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a Colony of the British Crown 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) Including the nine counties that make up its District in Kentucky(d), Virginia. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Aspects of the South-Western Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Territory in the Northwest 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Area Known as Orleans 19   Indiana This day in 1816, on December 11
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi December 10, 1817 [22]
(admitted) Land Located in the State of Mississippi 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama The date is December 14th, 1819. [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) In the State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The Florida Peninsula 28   Texas On this date in 1845: [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) Piece of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Part of Wisconsin was once known as the 31   California The Nineteen Fiftieth Day of September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially-Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Piece of Minnesota Territory 33   Oregon Sunday, February 14th, 1859
(admitted) Regional portion of Oregon 34   Kansas Tuesday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) The State of Kansas, or a Portion of It 35   The state of West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) There are 50 counties in the Trans-Allegheny area of Virginia. 36   Nevada The 31st of October, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado As of today, August 1, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Land of Colorado 39   The State of North Dakota1 Dated: November 2nd, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) State of Dakota (in part) 40   An Acronym for South Dakota1 Day of the Dead, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana The date of November 8, 1889 [41]
(admitted) It's in Montana! 42   Washington The Eleventh of November, 1889 [42]
(admitted) Place Name: Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) There is a territory in Idaho. 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Location: Wyoming, USA 45   Utah On this day in 1896: [43]
(admitted) Utah, the Territories 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Native American Lands in Oklahoma 47   New Mexico On this day in 1912, January 6
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) Location: Arizona 49   Alaska The date January 3, 1959
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

The dates of the ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the individual states on November 15, 1777, after being approved by the Second Continental Congress. Following ratification by the required 13 states, the Articles of Confederation entered into force on March 1, 1781. The current federal government, established under the Constitution, succeeded the general government under the Articles on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Dated: December 16th, 1777 2 Carolina del Sur The date of February 5, 1778 3 New York Date: February 6, 1778 4 Place Name: Rhode Island Wednesday, February 9th, 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia Saturday, February 26th, 1778 7 That State of New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 This is the state of North Carolina. April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey Saturday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware On this day in 1779: 13 Maryland As of today, February 2, 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.
• 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 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 granted the people of those territories the same rights. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Connecting to the Outside World: Some Useful Resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com