The order in which the states joined the United States.

Each of the fifty United States' constituent entities, known collectively as "states," shares sovereignty with the federal government. 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. They have complete authority over all matters not specifically delegated to the federal government or expressly prohibited 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. 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 the Senate and the House of Representatives. Two senators and at least one representative are assigned to each state, with the size of a state's delegation in the House of Representatives determined by that state's population as of the most recent decennial census required by the Constitution. There's also the Electoral College, which votes for the President and Vice President of the United States, of which each state gets a certain number of representatives and senators to represent it. [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. Originally consisting of 13 states, the United States now includes 50. All new states have been given full voting rights, just like the others. [5]

The table below details the official statehood dates for each of the fifty US states. After signing on to the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states formally became independent nations in their own right in July 1777 and July 1781, respectively, and formally joined the Union of States by ratifying the Articles of Confederation, the country's first constitution, in each of those years. (See below for a separate table detailing the ratification dates of the AoC.) These states are listed in the order in which they joined the new (and current) federal government upon ratification of the Constitution in 1787. As stated, each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory mandate. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
assented to or confirmed Developed from 1   Delaware On this day in 1787: [8]
(ratified) Colonial Delaware[b]. 2   Pennsylvania The 12th of December, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Dated: December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former Crown colony 4   Georgia Tuesday, January 2, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut It all started on January 9th, 1788. [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, the Royal Colony 6   Massachusetts The sixth of February in the year 1788 [8]
(ratified) New England's Original Colony and the Site of Boston 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) State of Maryland, a Private Colony 8   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, Royal Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominated Colony of the Crown 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, the Queen's Most Favored Colony 12   Carolina del Norte On this day in 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, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (9 counties in its District in Kentucky[d]) Virginia. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Continent's Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Territory in the Northwest 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Located in the Orleans Territory 19   Indiana Tuesday, 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 December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Piece of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama On this day in 1819, December 14 [24]
(admitted) States of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Commonwealth 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) Locale of Arkansas 26   Michigan Today in History (January 26th, 1837) [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) State of Florida 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) Texas Confederate States 29   Iowa The 28th of December, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Chaos-stricken regions / the Mexican Cession, Part (g) 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Region of Minnesota 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) It's true that Oregon only makes up a portion of the territory. 34   Kansas Thursday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) An Area of Kansas 35   Western Virginia June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) The Commonwealth of Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area[h]). 36   Nevada The 31st of October, 1864
(admitted) Geographical Location: Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado Time Period: 1876-08-01 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   There's a lot of room in North Dakota1 When: Tuesday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Section of Dakota Territory 40   The Badlands of South Dakota1 This day in 1889, November [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Earlier this week, on November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) A Place Called Montana 42   Washington 11 November 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah On this day in 1896: [43]
(admitted) Location: Utah 46   Oklahoma Tuesday, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Native American Lands in Oklahoma 47   New Mexico January 6th, 1912
(admitted) Region of New Mexico 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) The State of Arizona 49   Alaska Day of the Year: January 3, 1959
(admitted) Alaskan territory 50   Hawaii Today in History (August 21st, 1959)
(admitted) The Hawaiian Islands as a Territorial Unit

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were formally approved for ratification by the individual states by the Second Continental Congress. 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 on March 4, 1789, and the present Constitutional Government was ratified. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia Friday, December 16th, 1777 2 State Name: South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York Tuesday, February 6th, 1778 4 That place called Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut The 12th of February, 1778 6 Georgia Sunday, February 26th, 1778 7 This New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 State of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey Wednesday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Sunday, February 1st, 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 set of congressional acts.
• Between 1854 and 1861, when Kansas was still part of the territory, a series of violent conflicts broke out between pro- and anti-slavery groups that came to be known as "Bleeding Kansas."
• The Enabling Act of 1889 granted the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the right to organize themselves into new states and join the Union.
• The New Mexico and Arizona Admission Acts and the Oklahoma Enabling Act respectively granted permission for the people of New Mexico and the Indian Territory to organize a state government and to seek admission to the Union as a new state. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be combined into one state.
• State of Alaska officially joined the Union on January 3, 1959, thanks to the Alaska Statehood Act.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Inbound links [ edit ]

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