The order in which the states joined the United States.

One of the 50 individual entities that make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government is known as a state. Due to the separation of powers that exists in the United States, citizens of the federal republic 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."

U.S. administrative divisions are typically called "states." They have all the authority that is not given 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. Each state has a government that includes an executive, legislative, and judicial branch, and a constitution based on republican principles. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and it includes representatives from every state and every citizen. 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 number of electors a state can choose to represent it in the Electoral College, the body responsible for electing the President and Vice President, is equal to the sum of the number of representatives and senators from that state in Congress. [4]

Congress has the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union per Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. The original thirteen states in the United States have since been joined by another 33, bringing the total to fifty. All new states have been given full voting rights, just like the others. [5]

The table below details the dates of statehood for all fifty US states. After signing on to the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states formally entered the Union of States between 1777 and 1781 by ratifying its first constitution, the Articles of Confederation. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) 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
(acknowledged or confirmed) Constituted of 1   Delaware Tuesday, December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware as a Colony[b]. 2   Pennsylvania Thursday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, the former Crown Colony 4   Georgia Two Hundred and Eighty-Eighth Day of the Year [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut 9 January 1788 [12]
(ratified) State of Connecticut, Royal Colony 6   Massachusetts Sixteen years ago today, on February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Royal Province 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   This is the state of South Carolina1. May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   That State of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, a Colony under the Rule of the British Crown 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominion and Royal Colony 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) Province of New York under the Crown 12   In the state of North Carolina1 Monday, November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) Independent State of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) Nine counties in Virginia's District in Kentucky(d). 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) In the South-Western Part of the Country 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Alaska, Northwest, and Canadian Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Places Located in the Province of Orleans 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) Location: Indiana Territory1 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) This is Mississippi Country. 21   Illinois December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Region of Maine(f): Massachusetts 24   Missouri Wednesday, August 10, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Specifically, a section of Missouri. 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) A Part of the United States Known as Arkansas 26   Michigan Monday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas The 29th of December, 1845 [29]
(admitted) The Texas Republic 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) The Iowa Territory, Part 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) The portion of Wisconsin that was once known as the 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Mexican Cession [g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Thursday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   Situated in western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in the state of Virginia that are part of the Trans-Allegheny metropolitan area. 36   Nevada Last Updated: 31 October, 1864
(admitted) A Land Named Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) State of Nebraska 38   Colorado Day of the Sun, August 1, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Said of the area now known as Colorado: 39   There's a lot of room in North Dakota1 Tuesday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Section of Dakota Territory 40   Dakota (State) Tuesday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Sunday, November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Location: Montana 42   Washington On this day in 1889, November 11 [42]
(admitted) Geographical Indication of Washington State 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Wyoming, the Territories 45   Utah Initially published: January 4, 1896 [43]
(admitted) Territorial Claims in Utah 46   Oklahoma Sunday, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Territory of Oklahoma and Indian Territory 47   New Mexico January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona The Date Is February 14, 1912
(admitted) Land of Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Islands of Hawaii

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. On March 1, 1781, after ratification by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation entered into force. The current federal government, established under the Constitution, succeeded the general government under the Articles on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Sunday, December 16th, 1777 2 Carolina del Sur On this day in 1778, February 5: 3 New York Dated: February 6th, 1778 4 A Place Called Rhode Island Friday, February 9, 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 To the State of New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 To the State of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey On this date in 1778, November 19 12 Delaware Dated: February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland It all started on February 2nd, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• To admit California to the Union, Congress passed the Compromise of 1850.
• From 1854 to 1861, Kansas Territory was the site of a series of violent conflicts between pro- and anti-slavery groups known as Bleeding Kansas.
• In 1889, Congress passed the Enabling Act, which allowed the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories to organize themselves politically as states and apply for admission to the Union.
• The Oklahoma Enabling Act gave 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 gave the people of those territories the same rights. calling for a vote to decide whether or not the two areas should be united as one state.
• The Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made Alaska a member of the United States on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Links outside the org [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• Timelines of nation-state formation 50states com