Ordered list of when each state joined the United States

Each of the 50 states in the United States is a sovereign nation in its own right, with equal authority from the federal government and the people. Since the federal government and the individual states share power, Americans hold dual citizenship. Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are the only states whose full official names do not include the word "state," opting instead for the term "commonwealth."

The fifty states are the most basic political units in America. Without any restrictions placed on them by the United States Constitution, they are vested with all powers not specifically granted to or prohibited by the federal government. 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. It is based on republican principles, and each state has its own constitution and government that includes an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. [2]

Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and it includes representatives from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. There are two senators and at least one representative from each state, 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. 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]

The power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union is delegated to Congress by Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. There are now fifty states, up from the original thirteen that existed when the United States was founded in 1776. All new states are fully integrated into the union. [5]

The table below details the dates of statehood for all 50 US states. The first 13 states accepted the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, and they ratified the Articles of Confederation, the country's first constitution, and joined the first Union of States between 1777 and 1781. (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. Each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted; approved) Developed from 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Colonial Colony 3   New Jersey Monday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Georgian Colony was a Crown Colony. 5   Connecticut Nineteen Eighty-Eighth Day, January [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts This day in 1788, on February 6th, you could say: [8]
(ratified) The Province of Massachusetts Bay, in the British Empire 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   The State of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of New Hampshire, a British Crown Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal Colony and Dominion of Virginia 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Colony Under the Crown 12   Carolina del Norte On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   Place Name: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) The Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a British colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (9 counties in 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) A section of the Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana Friday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) Hoosier State 20   Mississippi On this day in 1817, December 10 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois As of today, December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Wednesday, December 14, 1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri The tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Partial Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Locale of Arkansas 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Location: Michigan, USA 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Region of Florida 28   Texas On this date in 1845: [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) State of Iowa, Part 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) State of Wisconsin, Inc. 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Wilderness area / Mexican Cession (part)[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Section of Minnesota Territory 33   Oregon Thursday, February 14, 1859
(admitted) It's true that Oregon only makes up a portion of the territory. 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) This portion of Kansas Territory 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada Sunday, October 31st, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Land of Colorado 39   State of North Dakota1 Earlier today, on November 2nd, 1889, [38][i]
(admitted) Specifically the Dakota Territory. 40   States of America: South Dakota1 Sunday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Region of Dakota 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) The State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Locale of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah On this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) Utah, the Territories 46   Oklahoma The date was November 16th, 1907. [44]
(admitted) Geographical Regions of Oklahoma and Indian Country 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona Wednesday, February 14th, 1912
(admitted) Arizona State 49   Alaska The Third of January, 1959
(admitted) Alaskan territory. 50   Hawaii Dated: August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

In order for the Articles of Confederation to be ratified by the separate states, the Second Continental Congress approved them on November 15, 1777. 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 Friday, December 16th, 1777 2 Southeastern United States, Specifically, the State of South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York Date: February 6, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island Monday, February 9, 1778 5 Connecticut On this day in 1778, February 12: 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 A New England State: March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 The State of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey This day in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware The date was February 1, 1779. 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 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.
• During the years 1854–1861, when Kansas was still considered part of the territory of Kansas, a number of violent conflicts broke out between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups.
• Upon passage of the Enabling Act in 1889, the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories were given the green light to organize their own state governments (with Dakota being split into two separate states) and apply for admission to the Union.
• The Oklahoma Enabling Act gave the people of Oklahoma and 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 a single state.
• On January 3, 1959, Alaska officially became a state thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

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

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