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

Each of the fifty United States' constituent entities, known collectively as "states," shares sovereignty with the federal government. Given the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. Only four states—Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—have commonwealth in their official names rather than state.

The 50 states make up the main divisions of the USA. They have all the authority that isn't given to or taken away 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's government is structured similarly to the federal government, with an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. However, each state's constitution is based on republican principles. [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 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]

Congress has the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union according to Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. From its original thirteen in 1776 to its current fifty, the United States has undergone tremendous growth since its inception. All newly admitted states have been given full voting rights. [5]

Here's a handy table with all 50 states and the days they became independent. 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 on July 4th, 1776, and ratified the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, between 1777 and 1781. (A separate table detailing the ratification of the Acts of Confederation is provided below.) These states are listed in the order in which they joined the new (and current) federal government upon ratification of the Constitution in 1787. The dates of admission for subsequent states are those officially recognized by law. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted or approved) Developed from 1   Delaware Dated: December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) Delaware [b] Colony. 2   Pennsylvania Thursday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey Dated: December 18th, 1787 [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, a former Crown colony 4   Georgia Starting on January 2nd, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a British Crown Colony 5   Connecticut 9 January 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony and now a state 6   Massachusetts The sixth of February, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay Colony, a Crown Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial possession 8   Citing 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, 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, a Royal Crown Colony 12   Carolina del Norte Dated: November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina was a colony established by the British Crown. 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) There is a republic in Vermont. 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) (Kentucky is represented by nine counties in Virginia) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Territory to the Southwest 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 Monday, December 11th, 1816
(admitted) Those Parts of the United States That Are Currently Cal 20   Mississippi Tuesday, December 10, 1817 [22]
(admitted) Places in the Mississippi Valley 21   Illinois As of today, December 3rd, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Territory in Illinois, Part 22   Alabama Today in History (December 14th, 819) [24]
(admitted) Places in Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Boston, MA (Maine Federal Court District) 24   Missouri A.D. 10th, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Its portion of the Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) The Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Dated: January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas On this day in 1845, December 29th, [29]
(admitted) State of Texas as a Republic 29   Iowa Sunday, December 28th, 1846
(admitted) Specifically, the portion of Iowa's territory that is called 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) Partial Wisconsin Territory 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Regions of Mexico and Other Cessions to Mexico[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) A Section of Minnesota 33   Oregon Monday, February 14, 1859
(admitted) Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas It all began on this date in 1861: January 29. [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   "West Virginia1" June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada A Date Certain: October 31, 1864
(admitted) This is Nevada Country. 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) A Land Named Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   This state is located in the northern part of the United States. It all started on November 2nd, 1889. [38][i]
(admitted) This portion of Dakota Territory 40   The Badlands of South Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Region of Dakota 41   Montana November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Location: Montana, USA 42   Washington On this day in 1889, November 11 [42]
(admitted) Territorial Government of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) Location: Idaho, in the Territory 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah Wednesday, January 4th, 1896 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma Tuesday, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona Thursday, February 14th, 1912
(admitted) Geographical Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) Location of Alaska 50   Hawaii Those words were first spoken on August 21st, 1959.
(admitted) Aloha! Hawaii!

Moments in time when the Articles of Confederation were ratified [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved for submission to state legislatures for ratification by the Second Continental Congress. After the 13 states ratified the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781, they became law. The Articles of Confederation were abolished on March 4, 1789, and the present Constitutional Government was ratified. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia On this day in 1777 2 Carolina del Sur Monday, February 5th, 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island 9 February 1778 5 Connecticut The 12th of February, 1778 6 Georgia Wednesday, February 26th, 1778 7 The State of 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 Tuesday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware On this day in 1779, February 1st, 13 Maryland Sunday, February 2nd, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• A set of laws passed by Congress in 1850 known as the "Compromise of 1850" included a clause guaranteeing California's entry into the Union.
• 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."
• Statehood Act of 1889; allows citizens of Dakota (to be split into two states), Montana, and Washington territories to organize state governments and apply for admission to 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 united as one state.
• This was made possible by the Alaska Statehood Act, which officially made January 3, 1959, the day Alaska was admitted to the Union as the 49th state.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

References outside the text [ edit ]

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