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

In the United States, each of the 50 individual states is a sovereign nation in its own right, with limited federal control. 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 official full names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

To better understand the United States, it is helpful to break it down into its constituent parts, which are called " They have all authority not specifically granted to or prohibited 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. Republican principles form the basis for each state's constitution and government, which is made up 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. As an added measure, [3] the Electoral College, the body that chooses the President and Vice President of the United States, allows each state to send a number of electors to Congress equal to the sum of its representatives and senators. [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 have been given full voting rights. [5]

In the table below, you'll find information about when each of the 50 states became independent. After signing on to the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states formally entered the Union of States in the years between 1777 and 1781 by ratifying the Articles of Confederation. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) The order in which these states are listed reflects 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
(acknowledged or confirmed) Formed by 1   Delaware On this day in 1787: [8]
(ratified) State of Delaware as a Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania Friday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) The New Jersey Colony, a Crown Colony 4   Georgia The date was January 2nd, 1788. [8]
(ratified) The Georgia Colony Was a Crown Possession 5   Connecticut Dated: January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) Colony of the Crown in the Bay of Massachusetts 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Columbia, South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of South Carolina, a British Crown Colony 9   A New England State: June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Kingdom of New Hampshire 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) The New York Crown Colony 12   Carolina del Norte Wednesday, November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) Colony of the British Crown in North Carolina 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Kingdom of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The 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) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Part of the Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Region of Orleans 19   Indiana Thursday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) The State of Indiana 20   Mississippi This day in 1817, on the 10th, [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois As of today, December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Piece of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Wednesday, December 14, 1819 [24]
(admitted) Lands in Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Specifically, the State of Massachusetts (Maine[f] District). 24   Missouri On this day in 1821, August 10 [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Arkansas State 26   Michigan The 26th of January, 1837 [28]
(admitted) State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Florida's Homestead 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) The Texas Republic 29   Iowa Dated: December 28th, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) State of Wisconsin, Inc. 31   California On this day in 1850, September 9 [31]
(admitted) Disorganized land / the Mexican Cession, part [g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Separate Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon Sunday, February 14th, 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Thursday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) The Commonwealth of Virginia (all 50 counties in the Trans-Allegheny area[h]). 36   Nevada On this day in 1864, October 31st,
(admitted) A Land Named Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Area encompassing present-day Nebraska 38   Colorado On this day in 1876, August 1: [37]
(admitted) Region of Colorado 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Part of the Dakota Territory 40   "South Dakota1" When: Tuesday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) This portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Territory of Montana 42   Washington Tuesday, November 11, 1889 [42]
(admitted) Territorial Government of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Places in Idaho that are technically part of the United States 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Geographical Region Called Wyoming 45   Utah On this day in 1896: [43]
(admitted) A Land Named Utah 46   Oklahoma On this day in 1907 — November 16 [44]
(admitted) Including both Oklahoma and Indian Country as their own separate territories. 47   New Mexico Monday, January 6th, 1912
(admitted) This is the New Mexico Territory1. 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this day in 1959, the calendar turned to:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Ratification dates for 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. Following ratification by the required 13 states, the Articles of Confederation entered into force on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation, which governed the states, were abolished on March 4, 1789, and the present Constitution, which governs the federal level, was ratified. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777 2 An Acronym for the State of South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 A Place Called Rhode Island On this day in 1778, February 9: 5 Connecticut Monday, February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia Thursday, February 26th, 1778 7 In the state of New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 In the state of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey When: Tuesday, November 19, 1778 12 Delaware Day of the Sun, February 1, 1779 13 Maryland The date was February 2, 1781.

See also [ edit ]

• Among the many legislative acts that made up the "Compromise of 1850," the one that led to California's eventual admission to the Union was the California Gold Clause.
• During the years of 1854–1861, when Kansas was still considered a territory rather than a state, a series of violent conflicts broke out in the territory between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups.
• This was made possible by the Enabling Act of 1889, which gave the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the legal right to organize themselves into states (with Dakota being split into two separate states) and apply for admission to the Union.
• Statehood for Oklahoma and Indian Territory Citizens Act; New Mexico and Arizona Admission Act; and the Oklahoma Enabling Act, which granted statehood to Oklahoma and Indian Territory citizens and admitted the new state to the Union as a whole. a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state is needed.
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

To other sites [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• Constitutional ratification and statehood formation dates 50states com