Statehood admission dates are listed in order for the 50 United States.

Each of the fifty United States' constituent entities, known collectively as "states," shares sovereignty with the federal government. Because of the separation of powers that exists between the federal government and the individual states, all U.S. citizens have dual citizenship. [1]The full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

The United States is divided primarily into individual states. They have all the authority that isn't given to or taken away by the federal government in the United States Constitution. 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 state has a government that includes an executive, legislative, and judicial branch, and a constitution based on republican principles. [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. Each state is guaranteed 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. In addition, the Electoral College, the body that chooses the President and Vice President of the United States, grants each state a number of electors equal to the sum of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

The Constitution specifically gives Congress the power to add new states 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. The new states have been accepted without discrimination. [5]

Each of the 50 states' official statehood dates is listed below. 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.) These states are listed in the order in which they joined the new (and current) federal government upon ratification of the Constitution in 1787. Listed for each subsequent state is the legally mandated date of admission. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted; confirmed) Formed by 1   Delaware Saturday, December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) The Province of Delaware[b] 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) Province of Pennsylvania that is under Proprietary Rule 3   New Jersey This day in 1787, on the 18th, [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a Crown Colony 4   Georgia Two Hundred and Eighty-Eighth Day of the Year [8]
(ratified) The Georgia Colony was a Crown Possession. 5   Connecticut The Nineteen Eighty-First Day of the Year, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Day of the Frog, February 6, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of Massachusetts Bay, a British Colony 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) The State of New Hampshire as a Royal Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Royal Colony and Independent State 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, Royal Colony 12   Carolina del Norte On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) Kingdom of North Carolina 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 Republic of Vermont[c] 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) Northern Provinces 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana Friday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi On this day in 1817, December 10 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Area 21   Illinois The date was December 3rd, 1818. [23]
(admitted) Area of Illinois 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Section of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) This is Arkansas State 26   Michigan This day in 1837, on January 26th, [28]
(admitted) Land of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) This is Florida Country. 28   Texas Sunday, December 29th, 1845 [29]
(admitted) The State of Texas, Republika 29   Iowa Dated: 12/28/1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 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) Minnesota Territory (part) 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861, January 29 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) In Virginia (all 50 counties in the Trans-Allegheny area [h]), 36   Nevada Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) It's in Nevada! 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Area encompassing present-day Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (South) On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Thursday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington Tuesday, November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) Locale of Washington State 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Idaho is a territory in the United States. 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) State of Wyoming 45   Utah Initially published: January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico This day in 1912, on January 6
(admitted) Location: New Mexico, USA 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) In the Territory of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) The Alaskan Territories 50   Hawaii As of the 21st of August, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress and sent to the individual states for ratification. After being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781. The current federal government, established by the Constitution, succeeded the general government under the Articles on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777, December 16 2 Carolina del Sur Instance created: February 5th, 1778 3 New York The date was February 6th, 1778. 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut Monday, February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia Monday, February 26th, 1778 7 For the state of New Hampshire, see: March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Specifically, the state of North Carolina. April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey Tuesday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware The First of February, 1779 13 Maryland Monday, February 2, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• As part of the legislative package known as the "Compromise of 1850," California's incorporation into the Union was guaranteed.
• During the years 1854–1861, when Kansas was still considered part of the territory rather than a state, a number of violent conflicts broke out between pro- and anti-slavery groups in the territory.
• Enabling Act of 1889, allowing citizens of the Dakota (to be split into two states), Montana, and Washington territories to organize state governments and 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 did the same for the people of those territories. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be combined into one state.
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• Various Videos Relating to Individual States in the USA History com
• "Birth dates of nations" 50states com