Within the United States, a state is one of fifty constituent governments sharing sovereignty with the federal government. The geographical area over which a state government has jurisdiction is also known as the state.
Americans are citizens of the state in which they reside, as well as of the U.S. federal government. Although they are commonly referred to as states, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are officially commonwealths rather than states.
According to the US Constitution, states possess all powers not specifically granted to the federal government, nor prohibited to them by the Constitution. Since the US Civil War, however, US Supreme Court decisions have eroded the sovereignty of the states, and the states themselves have ceded some of their powers to the federal government. Common state responsibilities include the power to regulate issues of local concern, such as the regulation of intrastate commerce, the holding of elections, the creation of local governments, public school policies, and the construction and maintenance of non-federal roads and highways. Each state holds its own constitution and state government, consisting of judicial, legislative, and executive branches.
Each state is represented in federal matters by two Senators and at least one Representative, with the total number of Representatives determined by the population of the state. The number of electors from each state who are entitled to vote in the Electoral College is equal to the total of Representatives and Senators in Congress from that state.
Congress has the constitutional authority to admit new states into the Union. Beginning with thirteen states in 1776, the number of states has expanded to fifty.
Listed in order of their ratification of the US Declaration of Independence, the original thirteen states were Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. Each was considered state as of July of 1776, upon agreeing to the US Declaration of Independence, and they joined the first Union of states between 1777 and 1781, upon ratification of the Articles of Confederation.
The Second Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation for ratification by the individual states on November 15, 1777. The Articles of Confederation came into force on March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all thirteen states. The order in which the original thirteen states ratified the Articles of Confederation is as follows: Virginia, South Carolina, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Georgia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.
In order of their admission to the Union, the other US states include Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, West Virginia, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and Hawaii, the last two becoming states in 1959. During the US Civil War, Virginia was broken up, to form West Virginia out of the Trans-Allegheny region counties in 1863.
Commonly known as Washington, D.C., for the city that encompasses its boundaries, the District of Columbia is the capital of the United States. Declared the seat of government for the newly independent nation following the Revolutionary War, the city was named for George Washington, the first president of the United States. Created through the Residence Act of 1790, the District of Columbia is bordered by Maryland and Virginia, but not part of any state. Originally, the District included the city of Alexandria, but Congress returned this land to Virginia in 1846, creating a single municipal government for the remaining portion of the District.
The following subcategories include each of the US states as well as the District of Columbia.
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