List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union

(Redirected from List of U.S. states by date of statehood)

Below is a list of all 50 states in the order they joined the Union.

The first 13 became states in July 1776 when they agreed to the United States Declaration of Independence. Each of those 13 agreed to the first U.S. constitution, called the Articles of Confederation, which formed the first Union of States between 1777 and 1781.[1] These states are presented in the order each ratified the 1787 Constitution, thus joining the present federal Union of states. The date of admission listed for other states is the official date made by Act of Congress.

List of U.S. states and their order to statehood/all 50 states

State Date
(admitted or ratified)
Formed from
1   Delaware December 7, 1787 (ratified) Delaware Territory
2   Pennsylvania December 12, 1787[2]
(ratified)
Crown Colony of Pennsylvania
3   New Jersey December 18, 1787[3]
(ratified)
Crown Colony of New Jersey
4   Georgia January 2, 1788[4]
(ratified)
Crown Colony of Georgia
5   Connecticut January 9, 1788[5]
(ratified)
Crown Colony of Connecticut
6   Massachusetts February 6, 1788[4]
(ratified)
Crown Colony of Massachusetts Bay
7   Maryland April 28, 1788[4]
(ratified)
Crown Colony of Maryland
8   South Carolina May 23, 1788[4]
(ratified)
Crown Colony of South Carolina
9   New Hampshire June 21, 1788[4]
(ratified)
Crown Colony of New Hampshire
10   Virginia June 25, 1788[4]
(ratified)
Crown Colony of Virginia
11   New York July 26, 1788[6]
(ratified)
Crown Colony of New York
12   North Carolina November 21, 1789[7]
(ratified)
Crown Colony of North Carolina
13   Rhode Island May 29, 1790[4]
(ratified)
Crown Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
14   Vermont March 4, 1791[8]
(admitted)
Vermont Republic[a]
15   Kentucky June 1, 1792[9]
(admitted)
Virginia (District of Kentucky: Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties[b])
16   Tennessee June 1, 1796[11]
(admitted)
Southwest Territory
17   Ohio March 1, 1803[12][14]
(admitted)
Northwest Territory (part)
18   Louisiana April 30, 1812
(admitted)
Territory of Orleans
19   Indiana December 11, 1816
(admitted)
Indiana Territory
20   Mississippi December 10, 1817[15]
(admitted)
Mississippi Territory
21   Illinois December 3, 1818[16]
(admitted)
Illinois Territory (part)
22   Alabama December 14, 1819[17]
(admitted)
Alabama Territory
23   Maine March 15, 1820[18]
(admitted)
Massachusetts (District of Maine[c])
24   Missouri August 10, 1821[19]
(admitted)
Missouri Territory (part)
25   Arkansas June 15, 1836[20]
(admitted)
Arkansas Territory
26   Michigan January 26, 1837[21]
(admitted)
Michigan Territory
27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted)
Florida Territory
28   Texas December 29, 1845
(admitted)
Republic of Texas
29   Iowa December 28, 1846
(admitted)
Iowa Territory (part)
30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848[22]
(admitted)
Wisconsin Territory (part)
31   California September 9, 1850[23]
(admitted)
California Republic (part)
32   Minnesota May 11, 1858[24]
(admitted)
Minnesota Territory (part)
33   Oregon February 14, 1859
(admitted)
Oregon Territory (part)
34   Kansas January 29, 1861[25]
(admitted)
Kansas Territory (part)
35   West Virginia June 20, 1863[26]
(admitted)
Virginia (Trans-Allegheny region counties[d])
36   Nevada October 31, 1864
(admitted)
Nevada Territory
37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted)
Nebraska Territory
38   Colorado August 1, 1876[29]
(admitted)
Colorado Territory
39[e]   North Dakota November 2, 1889[31][f]
(admitted)
Dakota Territory (part)
40   South Dakota November 2, 1889[31][f]
(admitted)
Dakota Territory (part)
41   Montana November 8, 1889[32]
(admitted)
Montana Territory
42   Washington November 11, 1889[33]
(admitted)
Washington Territory
43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted)
Idaho Territory
44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted)
Wyoming Territory
45   Utah January 4, 1896[34]
(admitted)
Utah Territories
46   Oklahoma November 16, 1907[35]
(admitted)
Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory
47   New Mexico January 27, 1912
(admitted)
New Mexico Territory
48   Arizona February 14, 1912
(admitted)
Arizona Territory
49   Alaska January 3, 1959
(admitted)
Territory of Alaska
50   Hawaii August 21, 1959
(admitted)
Kingdom of Hawaii

List Of U.S. States By Date Of Admission To The Union Media

Notes

  1. Between 1749 and 1764 the provincial governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth, issued approximately 135 grants for unoccupied land claimed by New Hampshire west of the Connecticut River (in what is today southern Vermont), territory that was also claimed by New York. The resulting "New Hampshire Grants" dispute led to the rise of the Green Mountain Boys, and the later establishment of the Vermont Republic. New Hampshire's claim upon the land was extinguished in 1764 by royal order of George III, and in 1790 the State of New York ceded its land claim to Vermont for 30,000 Dollars.
  2. The Virginia General Assembly adopted legislation on December 18, 1789 separating its "District of Kentucky" from the rest of the State and approving its statehood.[10]
  3. The Massachusetts General Court passed enabling legislation on June 19, 1819 separating the "District of Maine" from the rest of the State (an action approved by the voters in Maine on July 19, 1819 by 17,001 to 7,132); then, on February 25, 1820, passed a follow-up measure officially accepting the fact of Maine's imminent statehood.[10]
  4. On May 13, 1862, the General Assembly of the Restored Government of Virginia passed an act granting permission for creation of West Virginia.[27] Later, by its ruling in Virginia v. West Virginia (1871), the Supreme Court implicitly affirmed that the breakaway Virginia counties did have the proper consents necessary to become a separate state.[28]
  5. When President Benjamin Harrison signed the statehood proclamations for North and South Dakota he shuffled the papers on his desk and covered up all but the signature line of the documents. No one knows which state he signed into existence first. North Dakota's proclamation was published first in the Statutes at Large, as it is first in alphabetical order.[30]
  6. 6.0 6.1 Brought into existence within moments of each other on the same day, North and South Dakota are the nation's only twin-born states.

References

  1. Jensen, Merrill (1959). The Articles of Confederation: An Interpretation of the Social-Constitutional History of the American Revolution, 1774–1781. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. xi, 184. ISBN 978-0-299-00204-6.
  2. "Overview of Pennsylvania History - 1776-1861: Independence to the Civil War". PA.gov. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.
  3. "1787 Convention Minutes". NJ.gov. New Jersey Department of State.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Vile, John R. (2005). The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of America's Founding (Volume 1: A-M). ABC-CLIO. p. 658. ISBN 1-85109-669-8.
  5. "Today in History: January 9". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  6. "Today in History: July 26". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  7. "Today in History: November 21". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  8. "The 14th State". Vermont History Explorer. Vermont Historical Society.
  9. "Constitution Square Historic Site". Danville/Boyle County Convention and Visitors Bureau.[dead link]
  10. 10.0 10.1 "Official Name and Status History of the several States and U.S. Territories". TheGreenPapers.com.
  11. "State History Timeline". TN.gov. Tennessee Department of State. Archived from the original on April 10, 2016.
  12. Blue, Frederick J. (Autumn 2002). "The Date of Ohio Statehood". Ohio Academy of History Newsletter. Archived from the original on September 11, 2010.
  13. Clearing up the Confusion surrounding Ohio's Admission to Statehood
  14. The exact date upon which Ohio became a state is unclear. On April 30, 1802 the 7th Congress had passed an act "authorizing the inhabitants of Ohio to form a Constitution and state government, and admission of Ohio into the Union." (Sess. 1, ch. 40, 2 Stat. 173) On February 19, 1803 the same Congress passed an act "providing for the execution of the laws of the United States in the State of Ohio." (Sess. 2, ch. 7, 2 Stat. 201) Neither act, however, set a formal date of statehood. An official statehood date for Ohio was not set until 1953, when the 83rd Congress passed a Joint resolution "for admitting the State of Ohio into the Union", (Pub.L. 83-204, 67 Stat. 407, enacted August 7, 1953) which designated March 1, 1803, as that date.[13]
  15. "Welcome from the Mississippi Bicentennial Celebration Commission". Mississippi Bicentennial Celebration Commission. Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  16. "Today in History: December 3". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  17. "Alabama History Timeline: 1800-1860". alabama.gov. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  18. "Today in History: March 15". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  19. "Today in History: August 10". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  20. "Today in History: June 15". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  21. "Today in History: January 26". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  22. "Today in History: May 29". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  23. "California Admission Day September 9, 1850". CA.gov. California Department of Parks and Recreation.
  24. "Today in History: May 11". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  25. "Today in History: January 29". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  26. "Today in History: June 20". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  27. "A State of Convenience: The Creation of West Virginia, Chapter Twelve, Reorganized Government of Virginia Approves Separation". Wvculture.org. West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Archived from the original on 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  28. "Virginia v. West Virginia 78 U.S. 39 (1870)". Justia.com.
  29. "Today in History: August 1". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  30. MacPherson, James; Burbach, Kevin (November 2, 2014). At 125 years of Dakotas statehood, rivalry remains. Bismarck Tribune. http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/at-years-of-dakotas-statehood-rivalry-remains/article_5bb77c84-6249-11e4-a5c4-73e0e38f67ba.html. 
  31. 31.0 31.1 "Today in History: November 2". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  32. "Montana". Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska–Lincoln. 
  33. "Today in History: November 11". loc.gov. Library of Congress.
  34. Thatcher, Linda Thatcher (2016). "Struggle For Statehood Chronology". historytogo.utah.gov. State of Utah. Archived from the original on 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  35. "Today in History: November 16". loc.gov. Library of Congress.

Sources