List of U.S. states by date of statehood

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The order which the original 13 states ratified the constitution, then the order that the others were admitted to the union

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, Thursday, 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. Nor do the dates on the list reflect ratification of the Articles of Confederation, which is the original document naming the United States as such, and giving the initial label of "states" to the subnational political entities.

#		State	Ratification‡ or Admission	Preceding Entity
1	Image:Flag of Delaware.svg	Delaware	Friday, December 7, 1787 ‡	Lower Counties on Delaware, then sovereign state in Confederation
2	Image:Flag of Pennsylvania.svg	Pennsylvania	Wednesday, December 12, 1787 ‡	Province of Pennsylvania, then sovereign state in Confederation
3	Image:Flag of New Jersey.svg	New Jersey	Tuesday, December 18, 1787 ‡	Province of New Jersey, then sovereign state in Confederation
4	Image:Flag of Georgia (U.S. state).svg	Georgia	Wednesday, January 2, 1788 ‡	Province of Georgia, then sovereign state in Confederation
5	Image:Flag of Connecticut.svg	Connecticut	Wednesday, January 9, 1788 ‡	Connecticut Colony, then sovereign state in Confederation
6	Image:Flag of Massachusetts.svg	Massachusetts	Wednesday, February 6, 1788 ‡	Province of Massachusetts Bay, then sovereign state in Confederation
7	Image:Flag of Maryland.svg	Maryland	Monday, April 28, 1788 ‡	Province of Maryland, then sovereign state in Confederation
8	Image:Flag of South Carolina.svg	South Carolina	Friday, May 23, 1788 ‡	Province of South Carolina, then sovereign state in Confederation
9	Image:Flag of New Hampshire.svg	New Hampshire	Saturday, June 21, 1788 ‡	Province of New Hampshire, then sovereign state in Confederation
10	Image:Flag of Virginia.svg	Virginia	Wednesday, June 25, 1788 ‡	Virginia Colony, then sovereign state in Confederation
11		New York	Saturday, July 26, 1788 ‡	Province of New York, then sovereign state in Confederation
12	Image:Flag of North Carolina.svg	North Carolina	Saturday, November 21, 1789 ‡	Province of North Carolina, then sovereign state in Confederation
13	Image:Flag of Rhode Island.svg	Rhode Island	Saturday, May 29, 1790 ‡	Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, then sovereign state in Confederation
14	Image:Vermont state flag.png	Vermont	Friday, March 4, 1791	Province of New York and New Hampshire Grants (ownership disputed), Vermont Republic
15	Image:Flag of Kentucky.svg	Kentucky	Friday, June 1, 1792	Virginia (Kentucky County)
16	Image:Flag of Tennessee.svg	Tennessee	Wednesday, June 1, 1796	Province of North Carolina, Southwest Territory
17	Image:Flag of Ohio.svg	Ohio	Tuesday, March 1, 1803*	Northwest Territory
18	Image:Flag of Louisiana.svg	Louisiana	Thursday, April 30, 1812	Orleans Territory
19	Image:Flag of Indiana.svg	Indiana	Wednesday, December 11, 1816	Indiana Territory
20	Image:Flag of Mississippi.svg	Mississippi	Wednesday, December 10, 1817	Mississippi Territory
21	Image:Flag of Illinois.svg	Illinois	Thursday, December 3, 1818	Illinois Territory
22	Image:Flag of Alabama.svg	Alabama	Tuesday, December 14, 1819	Alabama Territory
23	Image:Flag of Maine.svg	Maine	Wednesday, March 15, 1820	Massachusetts
24	Image:Flag of Missouri.svg	Missouri	Friday, August 10, 1821	Missouri Territory
25	Image:Flag of Arkansas.svg	Arkansas	Wednesday, June 15, 1836	Arkansas Territory
26	Image:Flag of Michigan.svg	Michigan	Thursday, January 26, 1837	Michigan Territory
27	Image:Flag of Florida.svg	Florida	Monday, March 3, 1845	Florida Territory
28		Texas	Monday, December 29, 1845	Republic of Texas
29	Image:Flag of Iowa.svg	Iowa	Monday, December 28, 1846	Iowa Territory
30	Image:Wisconsin state flag.png	Wisconsin	Monday, May 29, 1848	Wisconsin Territory
31	Image:Flag of California.svg	California	Monday, September 9, 1850	California Republic, Mexican Cession, Alta California
32	Image:Flag of Minnesota.svg	Minnesota	Tuesday, May 11, 1858	Minnesota Territory
33	Image:Flag of Oregon.svg	Oregon	Monday, February 14, 1859	Oregon Territory
34	Image:Flag of Kansas.svg	Kansas	Tuesday, January 29, 1861	Kansas Territory
35	Image:West Virginia state flag.png	West Virginia	Saturday, June 20, 1863	Virginia
36	Image:Flag of Nevada.svg	Nevada	Monday, October 31, 1864	Nevada Territory
37	Image:Nebraska state flag.png	Nebraska	Friday, March 1, 1867	Nebraska Territory
38	Image:Flag of Colorado.svg	Colorado	Tuesday, August 1, 1876	Colorado Territory
39 †	Image:North Dakota state flag.png	North Dakota	Saturday, November 2, 1889	Dakota Territory
40 †	Image:Flag of South Dakota.svg	South Dakota	Saturday, November 2, 1889	Dakota Territory
41	Image:Montana state flag.png	Montana	Friday, November 8, 1889	Montana Territory
42	Image:Washington state flag.png	Washington	Monday, November 11, 1889	Washington Territory
43	Image:Flag of Idaho.svg	Idaho	Thursday, July 3, 1890	Idaho Territory
44	Image:Flag of Wyoming.svg	Wyoming	Thursday, July 10, 1890	Wyoming Territory
45	Image:Flag of Utah.svg	Utah	Saturday, January 4, 1896	Utah Territory
46	Image:Oklahoma state flag.png	Oklahoma	Saturday, November 16, 1907	Oklahoma Territory & Indian Territory
47	Image:Flag of New Mexico.svg	New Mexico	Saturday, January 6, 1912	New Mexico Territory
48	Image:Flag of Arizona.svg	Arizona	Wednesday, February 14, 1912	Arizona Territory
49	Image:Flag of Alaska.svg	Alaska	Saturday, January 3, 1959	Alaska Territory
50	Image:Flag of Hawaii.svg	Hawaii	Friday, August 21, 1959	Kingdom of Hawaii, Hawaii Territory

[edit] Notes

 ‡ Original 13 Colonies.

 * 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).

[edit] References

• 50 State Quarter Program from the United States Mint (including dates of statehood) [Retrieved: 19 January 2006]
• Dates of statehood, via 50states.com (includes notes, retrieved 19 January 2006)