The order in which the states joined the United States

One of the fifty entities that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government is a state. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold 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 50 states are the most basic administrative divisions of the USA. Neither the Constitution of the United States nor any state constitution can restrict the authority of the people. 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. In addition, the Electoral College, the body that chooses the President and Vice President of the United States, allows each state to send a number of voters to vote there that is equal to the sum of its congressional deputies and senators. [4]

The Constitution clearly gives Congress the power to decide whether or not to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. The United States' total number of states has grown from the original 13 in 1776 to the current 50. All newly admitted states are treated on par with the others. [5]

The table below details the dates of admission to the Union for each of the 50 states. When they signed on to the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the original 13 states officially became sovereign nations; between 1777 and 1781, they ratified the Articles of Confederation to form the first United States of America constitution. (A separate table with dates of AoC ratification is provided below.) 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 legally binding statute. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
accepted; confirmed Composed of 1   Delaware Wednesday, December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania On this day in 1787, December 12: [10]
(ratified) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Yesterday, December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal Georgian Colony 5   Connecticut Sunday, January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Day of the Frog, February 6, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Province of Maryland that is currently under private ownership 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under the Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominant Colony of the British Empire 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Colony Under the Crown 12   The State of North Carolina1 On this day in 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, the Crown Colony 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) Democratic Socialist State of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (Kentucky is represented by nine counties in Virginia) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Territories to the Southwest 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) The Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) French for "Orange Land"; the Orleans Region 19   Indiana Sunday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) Location: Indiana Territory1 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois Sunday, December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Area of Illinois 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) Locales Found in Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Boston, MA (Maine Federal Court District) 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) The Missouri Territory, Part 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan The 26th of January, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The Florida Peninsula and Adjacent Lands 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Confederate States of America 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) This is a section of Wisconsin. 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Disordered Lands / The Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Segment of Minnesota 33   Oregon Wednesday, February 14, 1859
(admitted) Partial Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Wednesday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) Separate Section of Kansas Territory 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Forty-five counties in the Greater Pittsburgh Area in Virginia. 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) State of Colorado 39   The State of North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Partial Dakota Territory 40   The Badlands of South Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Monday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Geographical Region Including Montana 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) Geographical Indication of Washington State 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) A Territorial Statement for Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) There's a lot of Wyoming here. 45   Utah On this day in 1896: [43]
(admitted) Land of Utah 46   Oklahoma Friday, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico January 6th, 1912
(admitted) This is the New Mexico Territory1. 48   Arizona Day of the Moon (February 14), 1912
(admitted) Pardon my ignorance, but I wasn't aware that Arizona was 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) The Alaskan Territories 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Located in Hawaii's territorial waters

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. As of March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation were in effect, having been ratified by all 13 states. The Articles of Confederation were abolished and the present Constitution ratified on March 4, 1789, ushering in the modern federal government. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Friday, December 16th, 1777 2 The State of South Carolina Friday, February 5th, 1778 3 New York This day in history: February 6th, 1778 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island It was February 9th, 1778. 5 Connecticut Dated: February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 Carolina del Norte April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey On this date in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware The First of February, 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 collection 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 state governments (with Dakota being split into two separate states) 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. 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 States" History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com