States in the United States, listed by their official admission to the Union.

A state is one of the fifty individual entities that together make up the United States of America and share 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. For example, the full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

Throughout the United States, the states serve as the most fundamental political divisions. They have all the authority that is not specifically given to or forbidden to the federal government by 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. Constitutions based on republican ideals and governing bodies that include separate branches of government for executive, legislative, and judicial functions are found in each of the fifty states. [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. The Electoral College is the body that votes for President and Vice President of the United States. [3] Each state has the right to send a number of electors to the Electoral College equal to the sum of its congressional deputies and senators. [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. In the 240 years since the United States' founding in 1776, the number of states has increased from its original 13. There has been no discrimination against any of the new states in their admission. [5]

Statehood dates for each of the 50 U.S. states are listed below. In July 1776, after agreeing to the United States Declaration of Independence, the first 13 colonies became states. Between 1777 and 1781, they ratified the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, and became members of the Union. (The dates of AoC ratification are listed in a separate table 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
accept(ed) or (approved) Originating from 1   Delaware When: 7 December 1787 [8]
(ratified) Province of Delaware[b] 2   Pennsylvania As of today (12 December 1787) [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788, January 2 [8]
(ratified) Former British Crown Colony in the South 5   Connecticut Sunday, January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, the Royal Colony 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of Massachusetts Bay, a British Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   In the state of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony of the British Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Royal Colony and Dominated State 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Colony 12   Carolina del Norte This day in 1789, November 21 [14]
(ratified) The North Carolina Colony was a Crown Colony. 13   Location: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Province of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) (c)The Vermont Republic 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) A total of nine counties in the Commonwealth of Virginia's District in the state of Kentucky[d]. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Northwest Territories (portion of) 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) The Province of Orleans 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) States of Indiana 20   Mississippi As of today, December 10th, 1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) The Illinois Territory, Part 22   Alabama Thursday, December 14th, 1819 [24]
(admitted) States of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Specifically, the State of Massachusetts (Maine[f] District). 24   Missouri Observed on August 10th, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan The 26th of January, 1837 [28]
(admitted) Region of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) An Area Including Florida 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa Sunday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Section of Wisconsin 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) The Mexican Cession (Part): An Unorganized Region 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Split off of Minnesota 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Friday, January 29, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) State of Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area [h]). 36   Nevada October 31st, 1864
(admitted) Area Known as Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) Its Name for the State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Territory of Colorado 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of the Dakotas 40   The Badlands of South Dakota1 Dated: November 2nd, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) The Dakotas, or a Portion of It 41   Montana On this day in 1889, November 8 [41]
(admitted) Montana, the Great Bear 42   Washington As of today (11 November 1889) [42]
(admitted) A Territorial Statement for Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Idaho, the Territorial State 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah On this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) UT - Utah Valley 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico The date was January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) Arizona State 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Geographical Term for Alaska 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Hawaii's home territory

The 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 under the Constitution, succeeded the general government under the Articles on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Saturday, December 16th, 1777 2 In the state of South Carolina The date was February 5th, 1778. 3 New York Saturday, February 6th, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island Day of the Week: February 9, 1778 5 Connecticut Friday, February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia Tuesday, February 26th, 1778 7 To 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 November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware On this day in 1779: 13 Maryland The date was February 2nd, 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 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 legal right to organize themselves into new states and join the Union.
• With the passage of the Oklahoma Enabling Act, residents of the Indian Territory and the Oklahoma Territory were granted permission to unite under a single state government and were admitted to the Union as a single state. calling for a vote to decide whether or not the two jurisdictions should be merged into one state.
• In 1959, the Alaska Statehood Act was passed, officially welcoming Alaska into the Union.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• State formation dates 50states com