Timeline of U.S. state admissions


The 50 individual states that make up the United States are co-sovereign entities with the central government. Due to the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, Americans hold dual citizenship. For example, the full official names of the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all include the word "commonwealth" rather than "state."
Individual states are the most basic administrative divisions of the USA. They have all the authority that is not given to or prohibited by the federal government in the United States Constitution. Local matters, such as intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and non-federal road construction and maintenance, are generally 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]
Congress, the United States' bicameral legislature, consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and all states and their citizens are guaranteed a voice there. There are two senators and at least one representative from each state, with the size of each state's delegation in the House of Representatives determined by that state's population as of the last 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]
Constitutional law states that Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 gives Congress the power to Union" target="_blank">admit new states to the Union. There are now fifty states, up from the original thirteen that existed when the United States was founded in 1776. All new states have been granted full membership, on par with the others. [5]
Below is a table with information about when each of the 50 states became independent. Following their approval of the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the original 13 states entered the Union of States in the years 1777–1781, and ratified the Articles of Confederation. (An additional table with dates of AoC ratification 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. In the following sections, each state's admission date is the statutory deadline established by Congress. [a]
List of U S states [ edit ]
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The dates of the ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]
In order for the Articles of Confederation to be ratified by the separate states, the Second Continental Congress approved them on November 15, 1777. After being ratified by the required number of states (13 in this case), the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation were abolished on March 4, 1789, and the present federal government under the Constitution was established. [45]












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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 rather than a state, a series of violent conflicts broke out in the territory between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups.
- Enabling Act of 1889, allowing citizens of the Dakota (to be split into two states), Montana, and Washington territories to organize state governments and apply for admission to the Union.
- The Oklahoma Enabling Act granted 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 did the same for the people of those territories. calling for a vote on whether or not the two jurisdictions should be united into one state.
- The Alaska Statehood Act officially made Alaska a state on January 3, 1959.
Notes [ edit ]
- ^ This does not take into account the 11 states that broke away from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America during the Civil War: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. or the "readmission to representation in Congress" of each state after the war, since the federal government does not officially recognize the states' separation from the Union. Additionally, the Constitution is ambiguous on the issue of whether or not states have the authority to secede from the Union; however, the Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. White (1869) that a state does not have the authority to secede from the Union on its own. [7]
- ^ The "Three Lower Counties Upon Delaware" are another name for this area. On June 15, 1776, the Delaware Assembly voted to end the colony's relationship with Great Britain and instead establish the three counties as "the Government of the Counties of New Castle" within a new state. Upon the Delaware River, Kent and Sussex [9]
- ^ Between 1749 and 1764, New Hampshire's provincial governor Benning Wentworth issued roughly 135 grants for unoccupied land claimed by New Hampshire west of the Connecticut River (in what is today southern Vermont), territory also claimed by New York. The "New Hampshire Grants" conflict that erupted as a result inspired the founding of the Vermont Republic and gave rise to the infamous Green Mountain Boys. By royal order of George III in 1764, New Hampshire's claim was terminated, and in 1790, New York sold Vermont its claim to the land for $30,000.
- ^ On December 18, 1789, the Virginia General Assembly passed a bill approving the secession of the "District of Kentucky" from the rest of Virginia and paving the way for the establishment of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. [17]
- ^ To this day, nobody knows for sure when Ohio was admitted to the Union as a state. An act "authorizing the inhabitants of Ohio to form a Constitution and state government, and admission of Ohio into the Union" (Sess) was passed on April 30, 1802 by the 7th Congress. 1, ch 40, 2 Stat. 173) An act "providing for the execution of the laws of the United States in the State of Ohio" (Sess) was passed by the same Congress on February 19, 1803. 2, ch 7, 2 Stat. 201) However, neither statute established an official date of statehood. The 83rd Congress passed a Joint resolution "for admitting the State of Ohio into the Union" (Pub. L. 83-204, 67 Stat. 407, enacted 1953) to officially establish Ohio's statehood date. Wednesday, August 7th, 1953 ) which fixed the date as March 1, 1803 [20]
- ^ On July 19, 1819, Mainers voted 17,001 to 7,132 in favor of leaving the rest of Massachusetts to form the "District of Maine," which was established by enabling legislation passed by the Massachusetts General Court on June 19, 1819. passing a follow-up measure recognizing Maine's impending statehood [17]
- ^ The Mexican Department of Alta California encompassed the majority of the territory that Mexico ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Bear Flag Revolt and the Mexican-American War. As part of the Compromise of 1850, Congress passed an act making California the 31st state.
- ^ In an act passed on May 13, 1862, the General Assembly of the Restored Government of Virginia authorized the formation of West Virginia. The Supreme Court's decision in Virginia v. West Virginia (1871) later implied that the secessionist counties in Virginia had the requisite consents for statehood. [36]
- ^ a b North and South Dakota are the only twin-born states in the United States, having been formed simultaneously on the same day. To ensure that no one would ever know which state became the first, President Benjamin Harrison shuffled all of the statehood documents before signing them. Since "n" comes before "s" in the alphabet, North Dakota is traditionally counted as the 39th state and South Dakota as the 40th. [39][40]
References [ edit ]
- ^ Edward Erler "Arguments for and Against Citizenship in the Fourteenth Amendment" Heritage: A Nonprofit Dedicated to Preserving America's
- ^ The Minnesota State Legislature's "Frequently Asked Questions" Legislative Assembly of Minnesota
- ^ Kristin D Burnett Briefs from the 2010 Census on the Reapportionment of Representatives (PDF) U S Economics and Statistics Administration, Department of Commerce
- ^ Author: Elhauge, Einer R Article II Electors and Presidential Elections: Essays Initiated by the Heritage Foundation
- ^ "The Doctrine of the Treaty of Guaranteed State Reciprocity" Justia com
- ^ Merrill Jensen (1959) Analysis of the Social and Constitutional History of the American Revolution under the Articles of Confederation, 1774–1781 A Publication of the University of Wisconsin Press pp xi, 184 ISBN 978-0-299-00204-6
- ^ White v. Texas, 74 U.S. 700 (1868)" Justia com
- A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. John R.Vile (2005) Encyclopedia of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 (Book I, Letters A-M) ABC-CLIO p 658 ISBN 1-85109-669-8
- ^ "State of Delaware" Delaware gov Data Repository, Division of State Administration, State of Delaware
- ^ A Brief History of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1: From Independence to the Civil War, 1776-1861 PA gov The Historical and Museum Commission of Pennsylvania
- ^ "Minutes from the Convention of 1787" NJ gov Department of State of New Jersey
- ^ The ninth of January was marked as "Today in History" loc gov Congressional Library
- ^ "On This Day in History... July 26" loc gov The Congress Library
- ^ The 21st of November in History loc gov Congress Library
- ^ It's the "14th State" Exploring Vermont's Past The Vermont Historical Society May 30, 2013 original version available online
- ^ "State Historical Park at Constitution Square" americanheritage com Heritage, an Imprint of American Heritage Publishing Retrieved April 23, 2019
- ^ a b It is titled, "Official Name and Status History of the Various States and U.S. Territories." TheGreenPapers com
- ^ Labeled as: "State Historical Timeline" TN gov Office of the Secretary of State of Tennessee Date of original publication: April 10, 2016
- ^ - Blue, Frederick J. That time of year again (Fall of 2002) The Official Birth of Ohio as a State Periodical of the Ohio Academy of History The original version was published on September 11th, 2010.
- ^ Dispelling Myths about Ohio's Statehood
- ^ "Fast Facts about the State of Louisiana" louisiana gov This version was archived from the original on March 24, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2016
- ^ In the words of the Mississippi Bicentennial Celebration Commission: "Welcome!" Commission for the Bicentennial of Mississippi's Statehood Retrieved 16 February 2017
- ^ Historically Speaking, It's December 3rd loc gov National Library of Congress
- ^ Alabama Historical Timeline, 1800–1860. alabama gov Retrieved June 15, 2016
- ^ The 15th of March in History loc gov The Congress Library
- ^ The tenth of August: A Day in History loc gov US Congress Library
- ^ The 15th of June in History loc gov The Congress Library
- ^ It's January 26th, so here's what happened yesterday in history. loc gov United States Congress Library
- ^ "The State of Texas Joins the Union" Yesterday in the Past Antenna & & Elbow (A&E) Television Networks March 4, 2010 Retrieved April 23, 2019
- ^ The 29th of May: A Day in History loc gov National Library of Congress
- ^ September 9, 1850: The Official Admission of California into the Union CA gov The State of California Parks and Recreation Commission
- ^ "On This Day in History: May 11" loc gov The Congress Library
- ^ January 29: This Day in History loc gov The United States Congress Library
- ^ The 20th of June: A Day in History loc gov Congressional Library
- ^ Chapter 12 of "A State of Convenience: The Creation of West Virginia" describes the approval of West Virginia's separation by Virginia's newly reformed government. Wvculture org Division of Culture and History, West Virginia
- ^ Referring to the case "Virginia v. West Virginia," 78 U.S. 39 (1870) Justia com
- ^ Article entitled "Today in History: August 1"1 loc gov The Congress Library
- ^ a b The second of November—today in history loc gov The Congress Library
- ^ The authors of the study are James MacPherson and Kevin Burbach, and their paper was published on November 2nd, 2014. "Sibling rivalry persists at 125 years of Dakota statehood" The Bismarck Tribune1. AP Retrieved June 29, 2020
- ^ In his 2008 article, Stein, Mark A. Scott Alan, "How the States Got Their Shapes," Smithsonian Books/Harper Collins, 2005, p. 256
- ^ David J. Wishart (ed ) "Montana" Great Plains: An Encyclopedia The University of Nebraska at Lincoln Retrieved 15 Février 2017
- ^ The 11th of November in History loc gov Congressional Library
- ^ Author: Thatcher, Linda The Timeline of the Fight for Statehood historytogo utah gov Utah, U.S.A.
- ^ It's November 16th, so here's what happened yesterday in history. loc gov The Congress Library
- ^ Paul Rodgers (2011) Basics of U.S. Constitutional Law McFarland p 109 ISBN 978-0-7864-6017-5
Internet resources [ edit ]
- Title: "Videos of the 50 States of the USA" History com
- The "Birth of a Nation" 50states com

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