Learn what year your state
joined the Union and became part of the "United States of
America".
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Or read about the U.S. Territories
The 50 States
Alabama
Alabama entered the Union
on December 14, 1819. In January 1861, Alabama seceded
from the Union, and on February
4, delegates from six states met at Montgomery and
formed the Confederate States
of America, with Montgomery as the capital. After the
Civil War, Alabama reentered
the Union.
Alaska
Alaska became the 49th State
on January 3, 1959; it was the first new state in the Union
since 1912.
Arizona
Arizona became the 48th
state on February 14, 1912.
Arkansas
Despite opposition in Congress
to a new slave state, Arkansas became a state on June
15, 1836. Arkansas Governor
Henry M. Rector seized Fort Smith and Arkansas joined
the Confederacy in 1861
reentering the Union at War's end.
California
Congress hesitated to welcome
a new free state, but because of its booming population
and the discovery of gold,
California was admitted in September , 1850.
Colorado
After three tries Colorado
was made a state on August 1, 1876.
Connecticut
Connecticut, one of the
thirteen colonies, became the fifth state on January 9, 1788.
Delaware
Delaware, one of the thirteen
colonies, gained its distinction as the "First State" when it
was the first to ratify
the Constitution on December 7, 1787.
Florida
Florida became a state on
March 3, 1845, a move delayed by the reluctance of Congress
to admit another slave state,
and it joined the Confederacy on January 10, 1861,
re-entering the Union at
war's end.
Georgia
Georgia, one of the thirteen
colonies, ratified the U.S. Constitution on January 2, 1788,
becoming the fourth state
to do so; it joined the Confederacy on January 19, 1861, and
reentered the Union after
the Civil War.
Hawaii
Hawaii became the Fiftieth
state on August 21, 1959
Idaho
Idaho became a state on
July 3, 1890.
Illinois
Illinois became the 21st
state on December 3, 1818.
Indiana
Indiana became the 19th
state on December 11, 1816.
Iowa
On December 28, 1846, Iowa
became the first free state in the old Louisiana Territory.
Kansas
Kansas became a free state
on January 29, 1861, after seven years of bloody feuding
between residents over whether
to be admitted as a slave or free state.
Kentucky
Kentucky became the first
state to be carved from the great western wilderness.
Louisiana
Louisiana became the 18th
state on April 30, 1812. It joined the Confederacy on January
26, 1861 and reentered the
Union after the Civil War.
Maine
Maine became the 23rd state
on March 15, 1820. Its admission to the Union balanced
the simultaneous admission
of Missouri as a slave state.
Maryland
Maryland became the seventh
state on April 28, 1788. During the Civil War, President
Abraham Lincoln placed Maryland
under military control.
Massachusetts
Originally part of the thirteen
colonies, Massachusetts became a state on February 6,
1788.
Michigan
Michigan became the 26th
state on January 26, 1837.
Minnesota
On May 11, 1858 Minnesota
became the 32 state.
Mississippi
On December 10, 1817, Mississippi
was admitted as the 20th state.
Missouri
Missouri was admitted as
a slave state on August 10, 1821, after an agreement known as
the Missouri Compromise
in which Maine was admitted as a free state.
Montana
Montana achieved statehood
on November 8, 1889.
Nebraska
President Andrew Jackson
vetoed the Nebraska statehood bill of 1866, but Congress
overrode his veto, and Nebraska
became a state on March 1, 1867.
Nevada
On October 31, 1864, at
the urging of President Abraham Lincoln, Nevada became a
state. Only a short four
years earlier, it had been a wilderness.
New Hampshire
In a sense, New Hampshire,
originally one of the thirteen colonies, "created" the new
nation by becoming the ninth
state on June 21, 1788, meeting the requirement for nine
states to ratify the Constitution.
New Jersey
New Jersey, one of the thirteen
colonies, became the third state on December 18, 1787.
New Mexico
On January 6, 1912, New
Mexico became the 47th state.
New York
On July 26, 1788, New York,
one of the thirteen colonies, became the 11th state.
North Carolina
North Carolina, one of the
thirteen colonies, became the 12th state on November 21,
1789. North Carolina troops
suffered the greatest losses of all the states during the Civil
War while fighting for the
Confederacy. North Carolina reentered the Union after the fighting
ceased.
North Dakota
Both North and South Dakota
became states on November 2, 1889.
Ohio
In 1803, Ohio became the
first state west of the Alleghenies.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma became a state
on November 6, 1907, with a population of 1,414,177,
including residents in Indian
Territory.
Oregon
On February 14, 1859, Oregon
gained statehood.
Pennsylvania
In September 1787, the U.S.
Constitution was signed in Philadelphia and on December
12, 1787, Pennsylvania,
one of the thirteen colonies, became the second state.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island was the last
of the thirteen colonies to join the Union on May 29, 1790.
South Carolina
South Carolina, one of the
thirteen colonies, became the eighth state on May 23, 1788.
On December 20, 1860, South
Carolina became the first state to secede form the Union.
It reentered after the Civil
War.
South Dakota
Both Dakotas became states
on November 2, 1889.
Tennessee
Tennessee became a state
on June 1, 1796. On June 8, 1861, it joined the Confederacy
and became a major battleground
for the Civil War, reentering the Union after war's
end.
Texas
After ten years of independence,
Texas became a state on December 29, 1845.
Utah
Utah became the 45th state
on January 4, 1896.
Vermont
Vermont became the first
state added to the Union following the 13 colonies on March 1,
1791.
Virginia
One of the original thirteen
colonies, Virginia became the 10th state on June 25, 1788. Richmond
became the capital of the
Confederacy on May 29, 1861, but reentered the Union after
the war.
Washington, DC
Residents of Washington
were given the right to vote for president and vice president with
the ratification of the
23rd Amendment in 1961. But the District of Columbia does not
have statehood.
Washington
On November 11, 1889, Washington
became a state.
West Virginia
On June 20, 1863, the wartime
state of West Virginia was born by acceptance of the
federal government.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin became the 30th
state on May 29, 1848.
Wyoming
Although the Wyoming population
was not enough to qualify for statehood, it became one
anyway on July 10, 1890.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Ricans received U.S.
citizenship in 1917, and the island became an internally self-
governing commonwealth in
1952. The people of Puerto Rico are represented in the U.S.
House of Representatives
by a nonvoting delegate.
U.S. Virgin Islands
In 1927, the people of the
U.S.. Virgin Islands became American nationals and in 1936,
they achieved limited self-government.
Today the Virgin Islands has a limited form of
self-government, with an
elected governor and lieutenant, and a nonvoting delegate to the
U.S. House of Representatives.
American Samoa
The United States, Britain,
and France claimed trade and other privileges in the islands,
and the United States established
a naval station at Pago Pago in 1878. An agreement of
1899 gave the U.S. the right
to govern present American Samoa. In 1978, a
governor was popularly elected
for the first time.
Guam
After the Spanish-American
War of 1898, Spain ceded the island to the United States.
Guam is represented by a
nonvoting delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives, and
its residents are citizensbut
do not vote for the President.
Micronesia
Several Pacific Island groups,
collectively known as Micronesia, were placed under U.S.
trusteeship after WorldWar
II. The trusteeship has since been dissolved. The Northern
Mariana Islands is a U.S.commonwealth;
the other island groups are now independent
states with close ties to
the U.S.
The information for this listing was provided by:
The World Almanac of theU.S.A.
Edited by Allan Carpentarand
Carl Provorse
World Almanac Books, 1996
An Imprint of K-III ReferenceCorporation
One International Boulevard
Mahwah, NJ 07497-0017