Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

The federal government of the United States shares power with its fifty individual states. Given the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. There are four states (Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) whose official names do not include the word "state," but rather "commonwealth."

The 50 states make up the main divisions of the USA. They have all the authority that isn't given to or restricted to the federal government under the United States Constitution. The federal government does not have jurisdiction over local issues, so it is up to the states to handle things like intrastate commerce, elections, new municipalities, public school policy, and non-federal road building and maintenance. Republican principles form the basis for each state's constitution and government, which is made up of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. [2]

U.S. citizens and residents from every state have a voice in the Senate and House of Representatives that make up the federal Congress. 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 that state's population as of the most recent 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 choosing the President and Vice President of the United States, is equal to the sum of the number of representatives and senators from that state in Congress. [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. There are now fifty states, up from the original thirteen that existed when the United States was founded in 1776. All newly admitted states are treated on par with the others. [5]

The table below details the dates of statehood 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. (A separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC 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. Each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
approved of or allowed in Constructed from 1   Delaware On this day in 1787, December 7: [8]
(ratified) [b]The Colony of Delaware. 2   Pennsylvania Tuesday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey This day in 1787, on the 18th, [11]
(ratified) Kingdom of New Jersey 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Kingdom of Georgia 5   Connecticut It all started on January 9th, 1788. [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former Crown colony 6   Massachusetts Sixteen years ago today, on February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Province of Massachusetts Bay, British Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial province 8   Specifically, the state of South Carolina1. May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   For the state of New Hampshire1, see: June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under the Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Colony 12   This is the state of North Carolina1. The date of November 21, 1789 [14]
(ratified) Colonial North Carolina, a Crown Colony 13   Here in Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 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) In the South-Western Part of the Country 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) The Province of Orleans 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi The 10th of December, 1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Partial Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Thursday, December 14th, 1819 [24]
(admitted) In the State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Province of New Brunswick, Canada 24   Missouri Tuesday, August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Part of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) State of Arkansas 26   Michigan Saturday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Formerly Known as: Michigan Territory1 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Affirmative: Florida's Home State 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) State of Texas as a Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Part of Wisconsin was once known as the 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) The Oregon Region, Specifically 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) Some of Kansas Territory 35   Mountain State of West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) The Commonwealth of Virginia (all 50 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 The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Area 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) North Dakota (a portion of) 40   Dakota (State) Tuesday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Region of Dakota 41   Montana The Date Was November 8, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington Monday, November 11, 1889 [42]
(admitted) Geographical Indication of Washington State 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Territory of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah Thursday, January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) UT - Utah Valley 46   Oklahoma The Date Is November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico Sixteen hundred and twelve: January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona Earlier today, on February 14th, 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Friday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Moments in time when the Articles of Confederation were ratified [ edit ]

On this day in 1777, the Second Continental Congress voted to send 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 and the present Constitution ratified on March 4, 1789, ushering in the modern federal government. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia In the year 1777, on December 16th, 2 An Acronym for the State of South Carolina The date of February 5, 1778 3 New York Sunday, February 6th, 1778 4 Providence, Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut Monday, February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 The State of New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Here in good ol' NC April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey This day in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware The First of February, 1779 13 Maryland Two-Fourths of February, 1781

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.
• From 1854 to 1861, Kansas Territory was the site of a series of violent conflicts between pro- and anti-slavery groups known as Bleeding Kansas.
• The Enabling Act of 1889 granted the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the right to organize themselves into new states and join 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 organize a state government and seek admission to the Union as separate states. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state.
• With the passage of the Alaska Statehood Act on December 21, 1958, Alaska was officially admitted to the Union as the 49th state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Related Sites [ edit ]

• US State Videos History com
• Terms for the Establishment of States 50states com