List of U.S. states by date of statehood
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U.S. states by date of statehood
This is a list of U.S. states by date of statehood, that is, the date when each U.S. state joined the Union. Although the first 13 states can be considered to be members of the United States from the date of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, they are presented here as being "admitted" on the date each ratified the present United States Constitution; most other such lists, including the 50 State Quarters program, do the same. The admission dates for later states were set by either the act of admission or a later resolution issued under that act, except for Ohio whose date of admission was determined by act of Congress in 1953 (see note below).
The dates on this list do not account for the ostensible secession during the American Civil War of several states to form the Confederate States of America, the subsequent restoration of those states to representation in Congress (sometimes called "readmission") between 1866 and 1870, or the end of Reconstruction in those states.
| #
| State
| Ratification‡ or Admission
| Preceding Entity
|
| 1
| Delaware
| December 7, 1787 ‡
| Lower Counties on Delaware, then sovereign state in Confederation
|
| 2
| Pennsylvania
| December 12, 1787 ‡
| Province of Pennsylvania, then sovereign state in Confederation
|
| 3
| New Jersey
| December 18, 1787 ‡
| Province of New Jersey, then sovereign state in Confederation
|
| 4
| Georgia
| January 2, 1788 ‡
| Province of Georgia, then sovereign state in Confederation
|
| 5
| Connecticut
| January 9, 1788 ‡
| Connecticut Colony, then sovereign state in Confederation
|
| 6
| Massachusetts
| February 6, 1788 ‡
| Province of Massachusetts Bay, then sovereign state in Confederation
|
| 7
| Maryland
| April 28, 1788 ‡
| Province of Maryland, then sovereign state in Confederation
|
| 8
| South Carolina
| May 23, 1788 ‡
| Province of South Carolina, then sovereign state in Confederation
|
| 9
| New Hampshire
| June 21, 1788 ‡
| Province of New Hampshire, then sovereign state in Confederation
|
| 10
| Virginia
| June 25, 1788 ‡
| Virginia Colony, then sovereign state in Confederation
|
| 11
| New York
| July 26, 1788 ‡
| Province of New York, then sovereign state in Confederation
|
| 12
| North Carolina
| November 21, 1789 ‡
| Province of North Carolina, then sovereign state in Confederation
|
| 13
| Rhode Island
| May 29, 1790 ‡
| Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, then sovereign state in Confederation
|
| 14
| Vermont
| March 4, 1791
| Province of New York, Vermont Republic
|
| 15
| Kentucky
| June 1, 1792
| Virginia
|
| 16
| Tennessee
| June 1, 1796
| North Carolina, then Southwest Territory
|
| 17
| Ohio
| March 1, 1803 *
| Northwest Territory
|
| 18
| Louisiana
| April 30, 1812
| Orleans Territory
|
| 19
| Indiana
| December 11, 1816
| Northwest Territory (Indiana Territory)
|
| 20
| Mississippi
| December 10, 1817
| Mississippi Territory
|
| 21
| Illinois
| December 3, 1818
| Northwest Territory (Illinois Territory)
|
| 22
| Alabama
| December 14, 1819
| Alabama Territory
|
| 23
| Maine
| March 15, 1820
| Massachusetts
|
| 24
| Missouri
| August 10, 1821
| Missouri Territory
|
| 25
| Arkansas
| June 15, 1836
| Arkansas Territory
|
| 26
| Michigan
| January 26, 1837
| Northwest Territory (Michigan Territory)
|
| 27
| Florida
| March 3, 1845
| Florida Territory
|
| 28
| Texas
| December 29, 1845
| Republic of Texas
|
| 29
| Iowa
| December 28, 1846
| Iowa Territory
|
| 30
| Wisconsin
| May 29, 1848
| Northwest Territory (Wisconsin Territory)
|
| 31
| California
| September 9, 1850
| Mexican Cession, Alta California,
|
| 32
| Minnesota
| May 11, 1858
| Minnesota Territory
|
| 33
| Oregon
| February 14, 1859
| Oregon Territory
|
| 34
| Kansas
| January 29, 1861
| Kansas Territory
|
| 35
| West Virginia
| June 20, 1863
| Virginia
|
| 36
| Nevada
| October 31, 1864
| Nevada Territory
|
| 37
| Nebraska
| March 1, 1867
| Nebraska Territory
|
| 38
| Colorado
| August 1, 1876
| Colorado Territory
|
| 39†
| North Dakota
| November 2, 1889
| Dakota Territory
|
| 40†
| South Dakota
| November 2, 1889
| Dakota Territory
|
| 41
| Montana
| November 8, 1889
| Montana Territory
|
| 42
| Washington
| November 11, 1889
| Washington Territory
|
| 43
| Idaho
| July 3, 1890
| Idaho Territory
|
| 44
| Wyoming
| July 10, 1890
| Wyoming Territory
|
| 45
| Utah
| January 4, 1896
| Utah Territory
|
| 46
| Oklahoma
| November 16, 1907
| Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory
|
| 47
| New Mexico
| January 6, 1912
| New Mexico Territory
|
| 48
| Arizona
| February 14, 1912
| Arizona Territory
|
| 49
| Alaska
| January 3, 1959
| Alaska Territory
|
| 50
| Hawaii
| August 21, 1959
| Kingdom of Hawaii, Hawaii Territory
|
- Notes
- ‡ Date ratified United States Constitution.
- *Congress extended federal laws to Ohio on February 19, 1803, but no formal date of statehood was set by the act of admission or a later resolution, as occurred with all other new states. On August 7, 1953, Congress passed a law retroactively making Ohio a state as of (March 1, 1803), the date when Ohio's first legislature convened.
- † The actual statehood proclamations for North and South Dakota were intentionally shuffled so that no one actually knows which was admitted first; however, North Dakota's was published first in the Statutes at Large (since it is first in the alphabet), hence it is considered admitted first by most sources (including the 50 State Quarters program).
References
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