The order in which the states joined the United States

The 50 individual states that make up the United States are co-sovereign entities with the central government. Since the federal government and the individual states share power, all U.S. citizens are also citizens of the state in which they currently reside. [1]The full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."

The 50 states are the main administrative divisions in the USA. Each state is endowed with all authority not specifically delegated to the federal government or prohibited from being exercised by the Constitution of the United States. The federal government does not have jurisdiction over local issues, so it is up to the individual states to establish policies regarding things like intrastate commerce, elections, new municipalities, public education, and highways that are not funded by the federal government. In a republican system of government, each individual state has its own constitution outlining the roles of the executive, legislature, and judiciary. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of senators and representatives from all 50 states. Two senators and at least one representative represent each state in the Senate, while the size of a state's delegation in the House of Representatives is determined by the population of that state as determined by the most recent decennial census required by the Constitution. In addition, [3] the number of electors a state can choose to represent it in the Electoral College, the body that votes for President and Vice President, is equal to the sum of the number of representatives and senators from that state 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. The original 13 states of the United States have since been joined by another 33, bringing the total to 50. All new states have been granted full membership with no special treatment. [5]

Here's a handy table with all 50 states and the days they became independent. Each of the original 13 states ratified the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, and thus became a state in July 1776 after agreeing to the United States Declaration of Independence. (The dates of each AoC ratification are listed in a separate table below.) This list of states is presented in the order in which they ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became part of the newly formed and currently functioning federal government. Each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(approved or allowed) Formed by 1   Delaware On this day in 1787: [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania Dated: 12 December 1787 [10]
(ratified) Colonized Pennsylvania Province 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) State of New Jersey, once a Crown Colony 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Georgia Colony was a Crown Colony. 5   Connecticut 9 January 1788 [12]
(ratified) Kingdom of Connecticut 6   Massachusetts Saturday, February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New England's Original Colony and the Site of Boston 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Maryland Colony was a private colony. 8   Southeastern United States, Specifically, the State of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) English: South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of New Hampshire, a British Crown Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Commonwealth of Virginia, Dominion of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) The New York Crown Colony 12   To the State of North Carolina1 The 21st of November, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Providence Plantations and the State of Rhode Island and Connecticut, British North America 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of Vermont[c] 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) Nine counties in Virginia's District in Kentucky(d) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Lands to the West of the Mississippi 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Canada's Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) France's Orleans Territory 19   Indiana This day in 1816, on December 11
(admitted) Region of Indiana 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) Places in the Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois Dated: December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) State of Illinois, Part 22   Alabama Thursday, December 14, 1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Province of New Hampshire 24   Missouri Sunday, August 10th, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Separate Section of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Specifically, the Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan On this day in 1837, January 26 [28]
(admitted) State of Michigan (Territory) 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) In the Florida Panhandle 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Texan 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 This day in 1850, on September 9 [31]
(admitted) Ungoverned regions / Mexican Cession (part)[g]. 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) State of Minnesota and Adjacent Lands 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) The Oregon Region, Specifically 34   Kansas Friday, January 29, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   The state of West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) The state of Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area[h]). 36   Nevada Date: October 31, 1864
(admitted) It's in Nevada! 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado Monday, August 1st, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Region of Colorado 39   The State of North Dakota1. Tuesday, November 2, 1889 [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 The Date of November 8, 1889 [41]
(admitted) That Part of the Country Known as Montana 42   Washington Instance created: November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) Geographical Indication of Washington State 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Geographical ID: The Gem State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) In the state of Wyoming. 45   Utah On this day in 1896: [43]
(admitted) Territorial Claims in Utah 46   Oklahoma Thursday, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Territory of Oklahoma and Indian Territory 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Times of Articles of Confederation ratification [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress and sent to the states for ratification. After being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation, the predecessor to the present Constitution, were abolished on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Dated: December 16th, 1777 2 This is the state of South Carolina. 05 Février 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island It was February 9th, 1778. 5 Connecticut Friday, February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia Saturday, 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 November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware A Day in History: February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland The date is February 2, 1781.

See also [ edit ]

• Included in the "Compromise of 1850" set of legislative acts was a provision for California's entry into the Union.
• 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.
• This was made possible by the Enabling Act of 1889, which allowed the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories to organize themselves politically as states (with Dakota being split in half) and apply for admission to the Union.
• The Oklahoma Enabling Act gave the people of Oklahoma and the Indian Territory the legal 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. necessitating a vote in a referendum to decide whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

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