US Statehood Table
| # | State | Admitted | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Delaware | 1787-12-07 | Original colony |
| 2 | Pennsylvania | 1787-12-12 | Original colony |
| 3 | New Jersey | 1787-12-18 | Original colony |
| 4 | Georgia | 1788-01-02 | Original colony |
| 5 | Connecticut | 1788-01-09 | Original colony |
| 6 | Massachusetts | 1788-02-06 | Original colony |
| 7 | Maryland | 1788-04-28 | Original colony |
| 8 | South Carolina | 1788-05-23 | Original colony |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 1788-06-21 | Original colony |
| 10 | Virginia | 1788-06-25 | Original colony |
| 11 | New York | 1788-07-26 | Original colony |
| 12 | North Carolina | 1789-11-21 | Original colony |
| 13 | Rhode Island | 1790-05-29 | Original colony |
| 14 | Vermont | 1791-03-04 | Independent republic, 1777-1791 |
| 15 | Kentucky | 1792-06-01 | Split from Virginia |
| 16 | Tennessee | 1796-06-01 | Southwest Territory |
| 17 | Ohio | 1803-03-01 | Northwest Territory |
| 18 | Louisiana | 1812-04-30 | Louisiana Purchase |
| 19 | Indiana | 1816-12-11 | Indiana Territory |
| 20 | Mississippi | 1817-12-10 | Mississippi Territory |
| 21 | Illinois | 1818-12-03 | Illinois Territory |
| 22 | Alabama | 1819-12-14 | Alabama Territory |
| 23 | Maine | 1820-03-15 | Split from Massachusetts |
| 24 | Missouri | 1821-08-10 | Missouri Compromise |
| 25 | Arkansas | 1836-06-15 | Arkansas Territory |
| 26 | Michigan | 1837-01-26 | Michigan Territory |
| 27 | Florida | 1845-03-03 | Florida Territory |
| 28 | Texas | 1845-12-29 | Independent republic, 1836-1845 |
| 29 | Iowa | 1846-12-28 | Iowa Territory |
| 30 | Wisconsin | 1848-05-29 | Wisconsin Territory |
| 31 | California | 1850-09-09 | Cession from Mexico |
| 32 | Minnesota | 1858-05-11 | Minnesota Territory |
| 33 | Oregon | 1859-02-14 | Oregon Territory |
| 34 | Kansas | 1861-01-29 | Kansas-Nebraska Act |
| 35 | West Virginia | 1863-06-20 | Split from Virginia (Civil War) |
| 36 | Nevada | 1864-10-31 | Nevada Territory |
| 37 | Nebraska | 1867-03-01 | Nebraska Territory |
| 38 | Colorado | 1876-08-01 | Colorado Territory |
| 39 | North Dakota | 1889-11-02 | Dakota Territory |
| 40 | South Dakota | 1889-11-02 | Dakota Territory |
| 41 | Montana | 1889-11-08 | Montana Territory |
| 42 | Washington | 1889-11-11 | Washington Territory |
| 43 | Idaho | 1890-07-03 | Idaho Territory |
| 44 | Wyoming | 1890-07-10 | Wyoming Territory |
| 45 | Utah | 1896-01-04 | Utah Territory |
| 46 | Oklahoma | 1907-11-16 | Indian & Oklahoma Territories |
| 47 | New Mexico | 1912-01-06 | New Mexico Territory |
| 48 | Arizona | 1912-02-14 | New Mexico Territory split |
| 49 | Alaska | 1959-01-03 | Alaska Purchase, 1867 |
| 50 | Hawaii | 1959-08-21 | Annexed kingdom, 1898 |
The 50-state union took 172 years to assemble, and the table's first thirteen rows work differently from the rest: the original colonies joined by ratifying the Constitution itself, Delaware first (December 7, 1787) and Rhode Island last (May 29, 1790) - Rhode Island and North Carolina both initially refused and re-ratified only after the Bill of Rights was promised. Every row after 13 is a true admission under Article IV, by an act of Congress.
The Origin column is continental history compressed: six states existed as independent republics before joining (Vermont, which ran itself from 1777; Texas, annexed in 1845; Hawaii, annexed in 1898 - and California, which improvisationally ran itself during a month of 1850), four were carved from existing states (Kentucky from Virginia, Maine from Massachusetts, West Virginia from Confederate Virginia, and the Dakotas from one territory split in two), and the rest grew out of named territories, from the Louisiana Purchase to the 1867 Alaska purchase.
The rhythm of admissions is a balance-of-power story: the table alternates free and slave states through the Missouri Compromise (Missouri, 1821) and the Kansas-Nebraska Act (Kansas, 1861), then settles into paired admissions designed to keep the Senate even - the Dakotas on the same day (November 2, 1889), Montana and Washington within days. The last pair arrived 65 years late: Alaska in January 1959, Hawaii that August, completing the 50.
How to use
- Read the first thirteen rows as ratifications, not admissions: those dates are when each colony accepted the Constitution - Delaware first, New Hampshire ninth (the vote that made it operative), Rhode Island dead last.
- Use the Origin column for geography questions: 'which states were their own countries' resolves to Vermont, Texas and Hawaii (plus California's month-long improvised republic); 'which states were split off' resolves to Kentucky, Maine, West Virginia and the two Dakotas.
- Trace the balance politics: Missouri (1821) and Maine (1820) were the Missouri Compromise's matched pair; Kansas (1861) was the Bloody Kansas aftermath; the four 1889-1890 states were a Republican pack-the-Senate maneuver; Alaska and Hawaii (1959) balanced north against blue.
- Answer the classic trivia: first = Delaware; last = Hawaii; same-day admissions = North and South Dakota (Nov 2, 1889); longest wait from territory = Alaska (purchased 1867, admitted 1959); only state formed by seceding from a Confederate state = West Virginia (1863).
Frequently asked questions
What was the first state, and why Delaware?
Delaware ratified the Constitution first, on December 7, 1787 - unanimously, and five days before Pennsylvania - earning 'The First State.' Its small size and strong Federalist merchant class made the new union attractive; the document needed nine states to take effect, and New Hampshire became that ninth on June 21, 1788, with the government seated under it in 1789.
Which states were independent republics first?
Vermont (1777-1791, the Vermont Republic), Texas (1836-1845), and Hawaii (1795-1898 kingdom, briefly a republic after 1893) all governed themselves before joining; California ran an unauthorized self-government during the 1850 statehood rush. Each origin still shows in state law and mythology - Texas's is written into its state constitution's reservation of rights.
Why are North and South Dakota separate states?
One Dakota Territory, two states: the territory split along the 46th/47th meridian line as its population boomed, and both halves were admitted the same day, November 2, 1889 - North Dakota, then South Dakota (the order of the two proclamations is a paper detail). The split was partly politics: Republicans wanted two Senate pairs from the prairie, and they got them.
Which state waited longest between purchase and statehood?
Alaska: bought from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million, it sat as a department, then a district, then an organized territory for 92 years before statehood on January 3, 1959 - long dismissed as 'Seward's Icebox.' Hawaii followed eight months later (August 21, 1959) as the 50th and final state, 61 years after annexation.