This is a timeline of the states' admission to the United States.

A state is one of the 50 individual entities that together make up the United States and share sovereignty with the federal government. As a result of the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, all U.S. citizens 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. When it comes to authority, they have everything the federal government doesn't and can't. Issues of local concern are typically delegated to the respective state governments, which may include the management of intrastate commerce, the conduct of elections, the formation of local governments, the direction of public schools, and the construction and maintenance of roads that are not funded by the federal government. 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. 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]

The Constitution specifically gives Congress the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. There are now fifty states, up from the original thirteen that existed when the United States was founded in 1776. Every newly admitted state is treated on par with the others. [5]

Each of the 50 states' official statehood dates is listed below. After signing on to the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states formally entered the Union of States between 1777 and 1781 by ratifying the Articles of Confederation, the country's first constitution. (A separate table detailing dates of AoC ratification is provided below.) Each state is listed in the order in which it ratified the Constitution in 1787 and thus became a part of the newly formed (and still existing) federal government. Each subsequent state's admission date is a legally binding deadline established by Congress. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
admitted; approved Formed by 1   Delaware It was the 7th of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware, a British Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania Thursday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey The 18th of December, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former British colony. 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut Monday, January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Kingdom of Connecticut 6   Massachusetts 6 February 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Province of Massachusetts Bay, a British Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial-era province 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal New Hampshire Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Virginia, Dominion of the Crown and Proud Colony 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Colony of the Crown 12   Carolina del Norte Thursday, November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   There's no place like 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) With nine counties in its District of Kentucky[d], Virginia is a large state. 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Continent's Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Part of the Northwest Territories 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Located in the Orleans Territory 19   Indiana On this date in 1816:
(admitted) Area containing Indiana 20   Mississippi On this day in 1817, December 10: [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois On this day in 1818 — December 3 [23]
(admitted) Portion of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Instance created: 14 December 1819 [24]
(admitted) Lands in Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri On this day in 1821 — August 10 [26]
(admitted) An Area of Missouri 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Florida's Homestead 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) The Texas Republic 29   Iowa When: Sunday, December 28, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California This day in 1850, on September 9 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Mexican Cession [g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Segment of Minnesota 33   Oregon It all started on this day in 1859, February 14th.
(admitted) Part of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas On this day in 1861: [33]
(admitted) The State of Kansas and Adjacent Areas 35   Mountain State of West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada On this day in 1864, October 31st,
(admitted) Located in the state of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) Territory of Colorado 39   There's a lot of room in North Dakota1 This day in 1889, November [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   The State of South Dakota1. Day of the Dead, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Section of Dakota Territory 41   Montana This day in 1889, November 8 [41]
(admitted) The State of Montana 42   Washington Tuesday, November 11th, 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) State of Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) A Land Called Wyoming 45   Utah Dated: January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) Locale of Utah 46   Oklahoma November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) Territory of Oklahoma and Indian Territory 47   New Mexico The date January 6th, 1912
(admitted) This is the New Mexico Territory1. 48   Arizona 14 February 1912
(admitted) Arizona State 49   Alaska Three days into 1959
(admitted) Alaskan Territory 50   Hawaii Friday, August 21st, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Islands

Events surrounding 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 the required 13 states, the Articles of Confederation became effective 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 On this day in 1777 2 An Acronym for the State of South Carolina 05 Février 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 There's no place like Rhode Island Wednesday, February 9th, 1778 5 Connecticut Monday, February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia On this day in 1778, February 26th, 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 Thursday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware Starting on February 1st, 1779 13 Maryland Sunday, 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 of Kansas, a series of violent conflicts broke out between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups, earning the region the nickname "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 legal right to organize a state government and seek admission to the Union as a single state. A similar law gave the people of New Mexico and Arizona the legal right to organize a state government and seek admission to the Union as separate states. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be combined into one state.
• The Alaska Statehood Act officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• States' birthdays 50states com