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

There are 50 separate entities that together make up the United States, and each of these states has some degree of autonomy within the federal government. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. In their full legal names, the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia use the term commonwealth rather than state.

The 50 states are the most basic administrative divisions of the USA. They have all the authority that is not specifically given to or forbidden to the federal government by the United States Constitution. 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 is guaranteed a minimum of two senators and a maximum of its number of representatives in the House of Representatives as determined by 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 power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union is delegated to Congress in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution. Growing from 13 at its founding in 1776, the current number of states in the United States is 50. The new states have been accepted without discrimination. [5]

There is a table below that details the dates of statehood for each of the 50 states. Each of the first 13 states ratified the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, in the years between 1777 and 1781, making them eligible to join the Union of States in July 1776. (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. For each succeeding state, the on-list admission date represents the legally binding date established by legislation. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted or approved) Formed by 1   Delaware The 7th of December, 1787 [8]
(ratified) The State of Delaware as a Colony[b] 2   Pennsylvania Friday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) Pennsylvania, a Crown Colony 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787, December 18 [11]
(ratified) The New Jersey Colony, a Crown Colony 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) Georgia, a Colony of the British Crown 5   Connecticut 9 January 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Dated: February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Massachusetts Bay, a Royal Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial province with a strong sense of independence 8   State of South Carolina1 May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   Specifically, the State of New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) New Hampshire, Royal Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The Virginia Colony and Dominion 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) Royal New York's Colony 12   Carolina del Norte This day in 1789, November 21 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Province of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) Vermont's [c]Republic 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) The Southwestern Region 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Northwest Territories (portion of) 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) Orleans Territory 19   Indiana Time Period: December 11th, 1816
(admitted) Its Location: The Indiana Territory1 20   Mississippi Wednesday, December 10, 1817 [22]
(admitted) The Mississippi Delta Region 21   Illinois The Third of December, 1818 [23]
(admitted) Partial Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Monday, December 14, 1819 [24]
(admitted) State of Alabama 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Maine[f] District). 24   Missouri Tenth of August, 1821 [26]
(admitted) Part of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) State of Arkansas 26   Michigan Saturday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The State of Michigan 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) Geographical Florida 28   Texas On this date in 1845: [29]
(admitted) Democratic Socialists of America 29   Iowa On this day in 1846:
(admitted) The State of Iowa and Adjacent Lands 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Date: September 9, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Disorganized land / the Mexican Cession, part [g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Its portion of Minnesota 33   Oregon Wednesday, February 14, 1859
(admitted) State of Oregon and Adjacent Areas 34   Kansas Last Updated: 29 January, 1861 [33]
(admitted) A Portion of Kansas 35   The Mountain State, West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Fifty counties in Virginia's Trans-Allegheny area. 36   Nevada On this day in 1864, October 31
(admitted) It's in Nevada! 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) In the State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Region 39   That Place Called North Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) The Dakotas, or a Portion of It 40   State Name: South Dakota1 On this day in 1889, November 2 [38][i]
(admitted) Area Including the State of Dakota 41   Montana This day in 1889, November 8 [41]
(admitted) Region of Montana 42   Washington The Eleventh Day of November, 1889 [42]
(admitted) The State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) A Territorial Statement for Idaho 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) The State of Wyoming 45   Utah The Fourth of January, 1896 [43]
(admitted) Land of Utah 46   Oklahoma On this day in 1907, November 16 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico 6 January 1912
(admitted) A portion of the state of New Mexico 48   Arizona On this day in 1912, February 14
(admitted) Geographical Arizona 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) In Alaska's case, this means the territory itself. 50   Hawaii The date of August 21, 1959
(admitted) Hawaii's Home Island

Events surrounding the ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

Articles of Confederation were approved for ratification by the individual states on November 15, 1777, after being approved by the Second Continental Congress. After being ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation took effect 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 Friday, December 16th, 1777 2 In the state of South Carolina Dated: February 5th, 1778 3 New York Sunday, February 6th, 1778 4 State of Rhode Island Sunday, February 9th, 1778 5 Connecticut Sunday, February 12th, 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 It's in the Granite State, 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 Friday, November 19th, 1778 12 Delaware The First of February, 1779 13 Maryland Day of the Sun, 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."
• 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 gain admission to the Union as a single state. The New Mexico and Arizona Admission Act did the same for the people of those territories. calling for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state.
• Article 3 of the Alaska Statehood Act officially recognized Alaska as a state on January 3, 1959.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Internet resources [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• dates of statehood 50states com