Sort Alphabetically by State: Sort the states alphabetically. For each state display statehood, enabling act, followed by the Constitutions beginning with the 1st.
Sort by Constitution date: Sort events by dates of constitution, statehood, and enabling act. Events without dates appear at the end of the table.
Sort by date of Adoption: Sort events by dates of Adoption, statehood, and enabling act. Events without dates appear at the end of the table.
Sort by date of Ratification: Sort events by dates of Ratification, statehood, and enabling act. Events without dates appear at the end of the table.
SORTED BY | (sort) | (sort) | (sort) | |
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State | Constitution | adopted by Constitutional Convention [unless otherwise indicated] | Ratified by vote of the People [unless otherwise indicated] | |
Alabama | The 22nd state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 14 December 1819 [by a Joint Resolution of Congress (3 Stat. 608)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 2 March 1819 [3 Stat. 489: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1819-1865 | 2 August 1819 [Convention convened, 5 July 1819] | 2 August 1819 [not submitted to the People; effective upon Admission, 14 December 1819] | |
2nd | 1865-1868 | 30 September 1865 [Convention convened, 12 September 1865] | 30 September 1865 [not submitted to the People] | |
3rd | 1868-1875 | 6 December 1867 [Convention convened, 5 November 1867] | 1868 | |
4th | 1875-1901 | 2 October 1875 [Convention convened, 6 September 1875] | 16 November 1875 [ratified by vote of 95,672 to 30,004; effective, 6 December 1875] | |
5th | 1901-- | 3 September 1901 [Convention convened, 21 May 1901] | 28 November 1901 | |
Alaska | The 49th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 3 January 1959 [upon Proclamation by President Dwight Eisenhower (73 Stat. c16)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 7 July 1958 [72 Stat. 339: recognizing a State government already formed] | ||||
1st | 1959-- | 5 February 1956 [Convention convened, 8 November 1955] | 24 April 1956 [effective upon Admission, 3 January 1959] | |
Arizona | The 48th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 14 February 1912 [upon Proclamation by President William Howard Taft (37 Stat. 1728) that Arizona had met the conditions of a Joint Resolution of Congress of 21 August 1911 (37 Stat. 39) precipitated by the President's 15 August 1911 veto (see references elsewhere in this database to Arizona's 1st Constitution)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 20 June 1910 [36 Stat. 557: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter; this Enabling Act replaced an earlier Enabling Act of 16 June 1906 (34 Stat. 267) which was conditional upon Arizona and New Mexico agreeing to reunite as a single State of "Arizona", a proposition that was rejected by the People of Arizona on 6 November 1906 by a vote of 16,265 to 3,141 (the aggregate vote of the two Territories was 31,000 to 29,336 against this proposition)] | ||||
1st | 1912-- | 9 December 1910 [Convention convened, 10 October 1910] | 11 December 1911 [effective upon Admission, 14 February 1912. (This Constitution was originally ratified by the People, 9 February 1911 but- as President William Howard Taft had vetoed a Joint Resolution of Congress admitting Arizona to the Union [H.J. Res 14, 62d Congress] on 15 August 1911 [due to his objection to the provision within this document providing for Recall of Judges]- this Constitution had to be resubmitted to the People so that Judges could be exempted from the Recall provision in order to satisfy the requirements of a second Joint Resolution of Congress (37 Stat. 39) signed into law by President Taft on 21 August 1911)] | |
Arkansas | The 25th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 15 June 1836 [Enabling Act (5 Stat. 50) also served as Act of Admission. Supplementary Enabling Act adopted by Congress, 23 June 1836; accepted by Ordinance of the Arkansas General Assembly, 18 October 1836] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 15 June 1836 [5 Stat. 50: recognizing a State government already formed and admitting the State forthwith] | ||||
1st | 1836-1864 | 30 January 1836 [Convention convened, 4 January 1836] | 30 January 1836 [not submitted to the People; effective upon Admission, 15 June 1836 [NOTE:The state Convention that adopted the Ordinance of Secession, 6 May 1861, also slightly amended this Constitution (by, for example, replacing the words "United States" with "Confederate States"), such amendments adopted on 22 May 1861 (and not submitted to the People for ratification). The State of Arkansas considers this 1861 revision to be a separate, 2nd, Constitution from that of 1836 and, thus, numbers all subsequent State Constitutions (those from 1864 on) one ahead of the numerical sequence as seen on this list. 'The Green Papers', however, considers the 1861 revisions to be a mere recodification of the 1836 document made in order to bring it into better conformity with the Constitution of the Confederate States of America]] | |
2nd | 1864-1868 | 19 January 1864 [adopted by Mass Meeting assembled 4 January 1864] | 14 March 1864 [ratified by vote of 12,177 to 266] | |
3rd | 1868-1874 | 11 February 1868 [Convention convened, 7 January 1868] | 13 March 1868 [ratified by vote of 27,913 to 26,597] | |
4th | 1874-- | 7 September 1874 [Convention convened, 14 July 1874] | 13 October 1874 | |
California | The 31st state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 9 September 1850 [by an Act of Congress (9 Stat. 452)] | |||
Enabling Act: 13 February 1850 [Congress twice failed to pass Enabling Acts for California: in 1849 and 1850; the functional equivalent of an Enabling Act was President Zachary Taylor submitting the State's new Constitution to Congress via Special Message on this date] | ||||
1st | 1850-1879 | 13 October 1849 [Convention convened, 1 September 1849] | 13 November 1849 [ratified by vote of 12,061 to 811; effective upon Admission, 9 September 1850] | |
2nd | 1880-- | 3 March 1879 [Convention convened, 28 September 1878] | 7 May 1879 [effective, 1 January 1880] | |
Colorado | The 38th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 1 August 1876 [upon Proclamation by President Ulysses S. Grant (19 Stat. 665). (Earlier, an Act of Admission for Colorado- under the 1864 Enabling Act- had been twice vetoed by President Andrew Johnson, on 15 May 1866 and 28 January 1867)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 3 March 1875 [18 Stat. 474: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter. (A previous Enabling Act [13 Stat. 32]- merely authorizing formation of a State government- had been passed by Congress, 21 March 1864, but was mooted with the two vetoes of President Andrew Johnson re: Colorado's Admission)] | ||||
1st | 1876-- | 14 March 1876 [Convention convened, 20 December 1875. (An earlier Convention, convened under authority of the 1864 Enabling Act in August 1865, had drafted a State Constitution mooted by President Andrew Johnson's two vetoes of Colorado's Admission)] | 1 July 1876 [effective upon Admission, 1 August 1876. (The earlier Constitution drafted in August 1865 had been ratified by the People on 5 September 1865)] | |
Connecticut | The 5th state, Ratified Constitution of the United States, 9 January 1788 | |||
Enabling Act: [None. One of the 13 original States which declared their independence from the nascent British Empire on 4 July 1776. Connecticut (which had formally abjured allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain, in lieu of drafting a new Constitution for itself, on 14 June 1776) operated under its colonial Charter of 1662 after independence until 1818] | ||||
1st | 1818-1965 | 15 September 1818 [Convention convened, 26 August 1818] | 5 October 1818 [ratified by vote of 13,918 to 12,364; effective, 12 October 1818. (NOTE: On 22 June 1953, the General Assembly adopted a recodification of this Constitution which was subsequently approved by the voters and became effective, 1 January 1955; however, this 1955 recodification is not generally considered to have been a "2nd Constitution" 'per se' )] | |
2nd | 1965-- | 28 October 1965 [Convention convened, 1 July 1965] | 14 December 1965 [effective, 30 December 1965] | |
Delaware | The 1st state, Ratified Constitution of the United States, 7 December 1787 | |||
Enabling Act: [None. One of the 13 original States which declared their independence from the nascent British Empire on 4 July 1776] | ||||
1st | 1776-1792 | 10 September 1776 [Convention convened, 27 August 1776] | 21 September 1776 [not submitted to the People: date is that on which this Constitution was proclaimed] | |
2nd | 1792-1831 | 12 June 1792 [Convention convened earlier in June 1792] | 12 June 1792 [not submitted to the People] | |
3rd | 1831-1897 | 2 December 1831 [Convention convened, 8 November 1831] | 2 December 1831 [not submitted to the People] | |
4th | 1897-- | 4 June 1897 [Convention convened, 1 December 1896] | 4 June 1897 [not submitted to the People; effective, 10 June 1897] | |
Florida | The 27th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 3 March 1845 [Enabling Act (5 Stat. 742, 788) also served as Act of Admission] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 3 March 1845 [5 Stat. 742, 788: recognizing a State government already formed and admitting the State forthwith] | ||||
1st | 1845-1865 | 11 January 1839 [Convention convened, 3 December 1838] | 6 May 1839 [ratified by a reported vote of 2,071 to 1,958; effective upon Admission, 3 March 1845 [NOTE:The state Convention that adopted the Ordinance of Secession, 10 January 1861, also slightly amended this Constitution (by, for example, removing the words "United States" and, later in 1861, replacing these with "Confederate States"), such amendments not submitted to the People for ratification. The State of Florida considers this 1861 revision to be a separate, 2nd, Constitution from that of 1838/9 and, thus, numbers all subsequent State Constitutions (those from 1865 on) one ahead of the numerical sequence as seen on this list. 'The Green Papers', however, considers the 1861 revisions to be a mere recodification of the 1838/9 document made in order to bring it into better conformity with the Constitution of the Confederate States of America]] | |
2nd | 1865-1868 | 7 November 1865 [Convention convened, 25 October 1865] | 7 November 1865 [not submitted to the People] | |
3rd | 1868-1887 | 25 February 1868 [Convention convened, 20 January 1868] | 6 May 1868 [ratified by vote of 14,520 to 9,491] | |
4th | 1887-1969 | 3 August 1885 [Convention convened, 9 June 1885] | 2 November 1886 [ratified by vote of 31,803 to 21,243; effective, 1 January 1887] | |
5th | 1969-- | 3 July 1968 [drafted and enacted by a Special Session of the Legislature- convened, 24 June 1968] | 5 November 1968 [this Constitution (except for a proposed new Article on the Judiciary) was presented to the People as three separate ballot measures: the first ballot measure, which contained the bulk of the proposed document, was ratified by vote of 645,233 to 518,940, with the other two proposals ratified by slightly smaller margins; effective, 7 January 1969. Only in March 1972 was a new Judiciary Article, replacing that of the 1885/6 document, added to this Constitution by vote of the People] | |
Georgia | The 4th state, Ratified Constitution of the United States, 2 January 1788 | |||
Enabling Act: [None. One of the 13 original States which declared their independence from the nascent British Empire on 4 July 1776] | ||||
1st | 1777-1789 | 5 February 1777 [Convention convened, 1 October 1776] | 5 February 1777 [not submitted to the People] | |
2nd | 1789-1798 | 24 November 1788 [Convention convened, 4 November 1788] | 4 January 1789 [ratified by popular Convention; declared to be in force by a second popular Convention called to consider amendments proposed by the January Convention, 6 May 1789] | |
3rd | 1798-1865 | 30 May 1798 [Convention convened, 4 May 1798] | 30 May 1798 [not submitted to the People] | |
4th | 1865-1868 | 30 October 1865 [Convention convened, 25 October 1865] | 7 November 1865 | |
5th | 1868-1877 | March 1868 [Convention convened, 9 December 1867] | 11 March 1868 [ratified by vote of 89,007 to 71,309] | |
6th | 1877-1945 | 25 August 1877 [Convention convened, July 1877] | 5 December 1877 | |
7th | 1945-1976 | 1945 [drafted by a Constitutional Commission which met from 1 October 1943 thru 9 December 1944; the Commission's work was subsequently enacted by the General Assembly and submitted to the People] | 7 August 1945 | |
8th | 1977-1983 | 31 March 1976 [drafted by a Constitutional Commission; enacted by the General Assembly and submitted to the People on this date] | 2 November 1976 [effective, 1 January 1977] | |
9th | 1983-- | 1982 [enacted by the General Assembly] | 2 November 1982 [effective, 1 July 1983] | |
Hawaii | The 50th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 21 August 1959 [upon Proclamation by President Dwight Eisenhower (73 Stat. c74) that the conditions set forth in the Enabling Act had been satisfactorily met] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 18 March 1959 [73 Stat. 4: recognizing a State government already formed and setting certain conditions for the Admission of Hawaii into the Union, all of which were approved by the voters of the Territory on 27 June 1959] | ||||
1st | 1959-- | 22 July 1950 | 7 November 1950 [The approval of Statehood by the voters of Hawaii- by vote of 82,788 to 27,109- in the election held this date was considered tantamount to ratification of its Constitution; the Constitution was effective upon Admission, 21 August 1959] | |
Idaho | The 43rd state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 3 July 1890 [by an Act of Congress (26 Stat. 215) recognizing a State government already formed] | |||
Enabling Act: [Idaho never had an Enabling Act prior to its Admission as a State] | ||||
1st | 1890-- | 6 August 1889 [Convention convened, 4 July 1889] | 5 November 1889 [effective upon Admission, 3 July 1890] | |
Illinois | The 21st state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 3 December 1818 [by a Joint Resolution of Congress (3 Stat. 536)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 18 April 1818 [3 Stat. 428: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1818-1848 | 26 August 1818 [Convention convened, 1 August 1818] | 26 August 1818 [not submitted to the People; effective upon Admission, 3 December 1818] | |
2nd | 1848-1870 | 31 August 1847 [Convention convened, 7 June 1847] | 5 March 1848 [ratified by vote of 59,887 to 15,859; effective, 1 April 1848] | |
3rd | 1870-1971 | 13 May 1870 [Convention convened, 13 December 1869] | 2 July 1870 [ratified by vote of 134,227 to 35,443; effective, 8 August 1870] | |
4th | 1971-- | 3 September 1970 [Convention convened, 8 December 1969] | 15 December 1970 [effective, 1 July 1971] | |
Indiana | The 19th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 11 December 1816 [by a Joint Resolution of Congress (3 Stat. 399)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 19 April 1816 [3 Stat. 289: authorizing the formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1816-1851 | 29 June 1816 [Convention convened, 10 June 1816] | 29 June 1816 [not submitted to the People; effective upon Admission, 11 December 1816] | |
2nd | 1851-- | 10 February 1851 [Convention convened, 7 October 1850] | 4 August 1851 [ratified by vote of 109,319 to 26,755; effective, 1 November 1851] | |
Iowa | The 29th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 28 December 1846 [by an Act of Congress (9 Stat. 117)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 3 March 1845 [5 Stat. 742: authorizing formation of a State government alone] | ||||
1st | 1846-1857 | 18 May 1846 [Convention convened, 4 May 1846] | 3 August 1846 [ratified by vote of 9,492 to 9,036; effective upon Admission, 28 December 1846] | |
2nd | 1857-- | 5 March 1857 [Convention convened, 19 January 1857] | 3 August 1857 [ratified by vote of 40,311 to 38,681] | |
Kansas | The 34th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 29 January 1861 [by an Act of Congress (12 Stat. 126) recognizing a State government already formed. (a previous Act of Admission [that of 4 May 1858: 11 Stat. 269], conditional upon adoption of the so-called "Lecompton Constitution", was mooted when that document was rejected in a vote held on 21 August 1858 [also see references elsewhere in this database to Kansas' 2nd and 3rd Constitutions])] | |||
Enabling Act: [Kansas never had an Enabling Act prior to its Admission as a State] | ||||
1st | 2 November 1855 [Convention convened, 23 October 1855. This was the so-called "Topeka Constitution" put forth by so-called "Free Staters" opposed to the actions of the pro-slavery Territorial legislature which, after expelling its anti-Slavery members on 2 July 1855, had subsequently passed a series of measures in defense of Slavery in Kansas; a Convention of such Free Staters had met at Lawrence in August 1855 and, after repudiating this pro-Slavery legislation, met again in Big Springs, 5 September 1855, to elect delegates to a convention in Topeka which was specifically authorized to draw up this 1st State Constitution] | 15 December 1855 [ratified by a vote of 1,731 to 46; the "Topeka Constitution" was rejected by President Franklin Pierce when, as part of a Special Message to Congress on 24 January 1856, he referred to this document as the product of "persons confessedly not constituting the body politic"; thus, this Constitution never became effective] | ||
2nd | 7 November 1857 [Convention convened, 5 September 1857. This was the so-called "Lecompton Constitution" which was put forth by "Slave Staters". The originally planned ratification vote called for in this document's "Schedule" only provided for a choice between this Consitution with Slavery permitted or this Constitution with Slavery prohibited (that is: there was no way to vote against this Constitution per se). The Territorial legislature- now under the control of the Free Staters- passed a law on 17 December 1857 ordering the "Lecompton Constitution" to be submitted to a "full and fair vote" (that is, with a third alternative- that of rejecting the "Lecompton Constitution"- on the ballot) come the following 4 January (the date this Constitution's Schedule had set for the first election of State officers under the document)] | 21 December 1857 [Despite the new requirement for a third "against" option put forth by the Territorial legislature only days before, the original ratification vote of this date went ahead anyway and- with Free Staters boycotting it- this Constitution with Slavery permitted was ratified by a vote of 6,226 to 589 for this Constitution without Slavery (some sources cite the vote as 6,143 to 580). Meanwhile, the legislatively-authorized ratification vote was held only in anti-Slavery areas of the Territory on 4 January 1858 along with the "State" elections held Territory-wide: here, the "Lecompton Constitution" was overwhelmingly rejected by a vote of 10,126 against to 138 for this document with Slavery and 24 for this Constitution without Slavery (Free Staters also captured control of all the "State" offices elected at the same time in any event). The adoption of this "Lecompton Constitution" had been supported by President James Buchanan in his first Annual Message to Congress on 8 December 1857 and was reiterated by the President in the Special Message to Congress on 2 February 1858 in which he submitted a copy of this document to that body; Congress passed an Act of Admission with conditions (as noted under the "3rd Constitution", below) on 4 May 1858, but this "Lecompton Constitution" had no chance of ever becoming effective once the Free Staters had won the "State" elections held under what had been, after all, a Slave Staters' document] | ||
3rd | 3 April 1858 [Convention convened, 23 March 1858. This was the so-called "Leavenworth Constitution", the answer of Free Staters to the Slave Staters' "Lecompton Constitution" of 1857: it had been drafted as a reaction to what Free Staters felt was a rigged original ratification vote for that other Constitution on 21 December 1857; however, Congress had- in the meantime- passed an act, on 4 May 1858, admitting Kansas as a State under the "Lecompton Constitution" pending a new ratification vote up or down on that other document on 21 August 1858: the "Lecompton Consitution" was overwhelmingly rejected by a vote of only 1,788 for it as opposed to 11,300 against] | 18 May 1858 [ratified by vote of 4,346 to 1,257. After the "Lecompton Constitution" was soundly defeated once and for all in August 1858, this "Leavenworth Constitution" was put forth by the Free Staters as a viable alternative to that other Constitution based on claims that it had already been ratified by the People of Kansas prior to this latest ratification vote "do-over". The Buchanan Administration, however, strenuously opposed this "Leavenworth Constitution" on the same grounds on which the previous Administration had opposed the "Topeka Constitution"- that the drafting Convention was not truly representative of all the political factions in the Territory- and, thus, it never became effective] | ||
4th | 1861-- | 29 July 1859 [Convention convened, 5 July 1859. This was the so-called "Wyandotte Consitution" which formed the basis for Kansas' being admitted to the Union as a Free State (and- as things turned out- the very last State admitted to the Union prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War). The Free Staters now being in complete control of the Territorial government, this Constitution was drafted in order to deflect any claim by pro-Slavery opponents that either of the two previous Constitutions drafted by Free-Stater Conventions (that is, those drafted at Topeka and Leavenworth) were illegal; by holding yet a third Free-Stater Constitutional Convention, this potential problem was deftly avoided] | 4 October 1859 [ratified by vote of 10,421 to 5,530; effective upon Admission, 29 January 1861] | |
Kentucky | The 15th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 1 June 1792 [the date for achieving Statehood had been expressly stated in the Enabling Act (1 Stat. 189)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 4 February 1791 [1 Stat. 189: accepting the cession by Virginia- in legislation adopted by that State on 18 December 1789- of its "District of Kentucky" and authorizing the formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1792-1799 | 19 April 1792 [Convention convened, 2 April 1792] | 19 April 1792 [not submitted to the People; effective upon Admission, 1 June 1792] | |
2nd | 1800-1850 | 17 August 1799 [Convention convened, 22 July 1799] | 17 August 1799 [not submitted to the People; effective 1 January 1800] | |
3rd | 1850-1891 | 7 May 1850 [Convention convened, 1 October 1849] | 11 June 1850 [ratified by a vote of 71,563 to 20,302] | |
4th | 1891-- | 28 September 1891 [Convention convened, 9 September 1890; the Convention submitted its work to the People on 11 April 1891 and recessed. On 2 September 1891, after this Constitution had already been ratified by the People, the Convention reconvened and- after approving a number of amendments to it- declared the amended result to have been adopted on 28 September] | 3 August 1891 [ratified by a vote of 213,950 to 74,446] | |
Louisiana | The 18th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 30 April 1812 [by an Act of Congress of 8 April 1812 (2 Stat.701)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 20 February 1811 [2 Stat. 641: authorizing the formation of a State government alone] | ||||
1st | 1812-1845 | 22 January 1812 [Convention convened, 4 November 1811] | 22 January 1812 [not submitted to the People; effective upon Admission, 30 April 1812] | |
2nd | 1845-1852 | 16 May 1845 [Convention convened, 5 August 1844] | 5 November 1845 [effective, 1 December 1845] | |
3rd | 1852-1864 | 31 July 1852 [Convention convened, 5 July 1852] | 1 November 1852 [effective, 29 November 1852] | |
4th | 1864-1868 | 23 July 1864 [Convention convened, 4 April 1864] | 5 September 1864 [ratified by vote of 6,836 to 1,566; effective, 19 September 1864] | |
5th | 1868-1879 | 2 March 1868 [Convention convened, December 1867] | 18 August 1868 [ratified by a vote of 66,152 to 48,739] | |
6th | 1879-1898 | 23 July 1879 [Convention convened, 21 April 1879] | 2 December 1879 [effective, 29 December 1879] | |
7th | 1898-1913 | 12 May 1898 [on 22 November 1913, a Convention formally adopted a recodification of this Constitution; this recodification was not submitted to the People. In the opinion of 'TheGreenPapers.com', this 1913 recodification is not a new Constitution in and of itself] | 12 May 1898 [not submitted to the People] | |
8th | 1921-1974 | 21 June 1921 [Convention convened, 1 March 1921] | 21 June 1921 [not submitted to the People] | |
9th | 1975-- | 1974 [Convention convened, 5 January 1973] | 20 April 1974 [effective, 1 January 1975] | |
Maine | The 23rd state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 15 March 1820 [by an Act of Congress of 3 March 1820 (3 Stat. 544) recognizing a State government already formed] | |||
Enabling Act: [Maine never had an Enabling Act: instead, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts passed enabling legislation of its own- first separating its "District of Maine" from the rest of the State, 19 June 1819- an action approved by the voters in Maine on 19 July 1819 by 17,001 to 7,132; Massachusetts passed a follow-up ordinance officially accepting the fact of Maine's imminent statehood on 25 February 1820, thereby allowing Congress to formally admit Maine as a State] | ||||
1st | 1820-- | 29 October 1819 [Convention convened, 11 October 1819 (NOTE: on 12 January 1875, the Legislature authorized a Commission to propose such amendments as would update and modernize this Constitution; on 24 February 1875, this Commission proposed 9 amendments to be added to the 1819 Constitution and the 12 amendments thereto adopted prior to 1875: one of these 9 new amendments authorized the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court to recodify the 1819 Constitution and amendments )] | 6 December 1819 [ratified by special Town Meetings. (NOTE: The amendments proposed by the 1875 Commission were ratified by the People on 13 September 1875, after which the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court reworked the 1819 Constitution and its now 21 amendments into a newly recodified document: the Legislature accepted this recodification as the official Constitution of Maine on 23 February 1876; however, this 1875/1876 recodification is not generally considered to be a new Constitution per se )] | |
Maryland | The 7th state, Ratified Constitution of the United States, 28 April 1788 | |||
Enabling Act: [None. One of the 13 original States which declared their independence from the nascent British Empire on 4 July 1776] | ||||
1st | 1776-1851 | 11 November 1776 [Convention convened, 14 August 1776] | 11 November 1776 [not submitted to the People] | |
2nd | 1851-1864 | 13 May 1851 [Convention convened, 4 November 1850] | 4 June 1851 [effective, 4 July 1851] | |
3rd | 1864-1867 | 6 September 1864 [Convention convened, 27 April 1864] | 13 October 1864 [ratified by a vote of 30,174 to 29,799: a most controversial result at a time when the State, while not part of the Confederacy, was a hotbed of much pro-Southern sentiment: the vote of those voting at their usual polling places was opposed to this Constitution by 29,536 to 27,541; however, the soldiers' vote (but only that of those soldiers from Maryland serving in the Union Army) was overwhelmingly in favor (2,633 to 263) and was, therefore, enough to make the total vote in favor of this Constitution] | |
4th | 1867-- | 17 August 1867 [Convention convened, 8 May 1867] | 18 September 1867 [ratified by a vote of 27,152 to 23,036; effective, 5 October 1867] | |
Massachusetts | The 6th state, Ratified Constitution of the United States, 6 February 1788 | |||
Enabling Act: [None. One of the 13 original States which declared their independence from the nascent British Empire on 4 July 1776] | ||||
1st | 1780-- | 2 March 1780 [Convention convened, 1 September 1779] | 15 June 1780 [ratified by the annual Town Meetings in the Spring of 1780: the Constitutional Convention thereafter resumed to consider amendments proposed at these Town Meetings and, on 15 June 1780, declared the Constitution to have been ratified; this Constitution became effective, 25 October 1780 and remains, at least ostensibly, the oldest written Constitution still in operation in the entire World. (The Constitutional Convention of 1919 recodified this document by incorporating the 66 amendments hitherto added to the 1780 Constitution into the body of that Constitution: this recodification was approved by the voters on 4 November 1919; however, this recodification is not generally considered to be a new Constitution per se)] | |
Michigan | The 26th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 26 January 1837 [The Convention called for the purpose having- on 15 December 1836- accepted the State boundaries as set forth in the Enabling Act, Michigan was admitted as a State by an Act of Congress (5 Stat. 144)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 15 June 1836 [This Enabling Act (5 Stat. 49), recognizing a State government already formed, authorized the election of a Convention for the stated purpose of modifying the State's new Constitution to conform to State boundaries set forth by this Enabling Act] | ||||
1st | 1837-1850 | 29 June 1835 [Convention convened, 11 May 1835] | 2 November 1835 [effective upon Admission, 26 January 1837] | |
2nd | 1850-1908 | 15 August 1850 [Convention convened, 3 June 1850] | 5 November 1850 [ratified by vote of 36,169 to 9,433] | |
3rd | 1909-1963 | 3 March 1908 [Convention convened, 22 October 1907] | 3 November 1908 [effective, 1 January 1909] | |
4th | 1964-- | 1 August 1962 [Convention convened, 3 October 1961] | 1 April 1963 [effective, 1 January 1964] | |
Minnesota | The 32nd state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 11 May 1858 [by an Act of Congress (11 Stat. 285)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 26 February 1857 [11 Stat. 166: authorizing formation of a State government alone] | ||||
1st | 1858-- | 29 August 1857 [Convention convened, 13 July 1857] | 13 October 1857 [ratified by a vote of 36,240 to 700; effective upon Admission, 11 May 1858] | |
Mississippi | The 20th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 10 December 1817 [by a Joint Resolution of Congress (3 Stat. 472)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 1 March 1817 [3 Stat. 348: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1817-1832 | 15 August 1817 [Convention convened, 7 July 1817] | 2 September 1817 | |
2nd | 1832-1868 | 26 October 1832 [Convention convened, 10 September 1832] | 4 December 1832 | |
3rd | 1868-1890 | 15 May 1868 [Convention convened, 7 January 1868] | 1 December 1868 [ratified by a vote of 105,223 to 954 upon resubmission after this Constitution had originally been rejected by the People, 28 June 1868, by a vote of 63,860 against to 56,231 for] | |
4th | 1890-- | 1 November 1890 [Convention convened, 12 August 1890] | 1 November 1890 [not submitted to the People: this action was challenged in the case of Sproule v. Fredericks but was upheld by the Mississippi Supreme Court [69 Miss. 898 (11 So. 472)]] | |
Missouri | The 24th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 10 August 1821 [upon Proclamation by President James Monroe (3 Stat. 797) that conditions- set by a Joint Resolution of Congress (3 Stat. 645) on 2 March 1821 recognizing a State government already formed- had been satisfactorily met] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 6 March 1820 [3 Stat. 545: authorizing the formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1821-1865 | 19 July 1820 [Convention convened, 12 June 1820] | 28 August 1820 [effective upon Admission, 10 August 1821] | |
2nd | 1865-1875 | 8 April 1865 [Convention convened, 6 January 1865] | 6 June 1865 [ratified by a vote of 43,670 to 41,808; effective, 4 July 1865] | |
3rd | 1875-1945 | 2 August 1875 [Convention convened, 5 May 1875] | 30 October 1875 [ratified by a vote of 90,600 to 14,362; effective, 30 November 1875] | |
4th | 1945-- | 29 September 1944 [Convention convened, 21 September 1943] | 27 February 1945 [effective, 30 March 1945] | |
Montana | The 41st state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 8 November 1889 [upon Proclamation by President Benjamin Harrison (26 Stat. 1551)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 22 February 1889 [25 Stat. 676: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1889-1973 | 17 August 1889 [Convention convened, 4 July 1889] | 1 October 1889 [ratified by a vote of 24,676 to 2,274; effective upon Admission, 8 November 1889] | |
2nd | 1973-- | 22 March 1972 [Convention convened, 17 January 1972] | 6 June 1972 [effective, 1 July 1973] | |
Nebraska | The 37th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 1 March 1867 [upon Proclamation by President Andrew Johnson (14 Stat. 820) that conditions- set by an Act of Congress (14 Stat. 391) on 9 February 1867 recognizing a State government already formed- had been satisfactorily met] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 19 April 1864 [13 Stat. 47: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1867-1875 | 9 February 1866 [drafted and enacted by the Territorial legislature] | 21 June 1866 [ratified by a vote of 3,938 to 3,838; effective upon Admission, 1 March 1867] | |
2nd | 1875-- | 12 June 1875 [Convention convened, 11 May 1875] | 12 October 1875 [effective, 1 November 1875] | |
Nevada | The 36th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 31 October 1864 [upon Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln (13 Stat. 749)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 21 March 1864 [13 Stat. 30: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1864-- | 28 July 1864 [Convention convened, 4 July 1864] | 7 September 1864 [effective upon Admission, 31 October 1864] | |
New Hampshire | The 9th state, Ratified Constitution of the United States, 21 June 1788 | |||
Enabling Act: [None. One of the 13 original States which declared their independence from the nascent British Empire on 4 July 1776] | ||||
1st | 1776-1784 | 5 January 1776 ["Congress" (that is, a convention) convened, 21 December 1775; New Hampshire's 1st Constitution was the first Constitution ever drafted by an American commonwealth (that is, a British province becoming a State)] | 5 January 1776 [not submitted to the People] | |
2nd | 1784-1793 | 31 October 1783 [Convention convened, 12 June 1781: a Constitution was drafted and sent to the Town Meetings of Spring 1782 for ratification; however, amendments proposed by these Town Meetings were so numerous that the Constitution was redrafted by the Convention. Resubmitted to Town Meetings scheduled for Fall 1782, this redraft was also heavily altered by even more proposed amendments suggested at these subsequent Town Meetings. A third draft was necessary before it was resubmitted and accepted by the Town Meetings "as is". This October 1783 adoption date is the date the Convention adjourned sine die after having declared this 2nd Constitution to have been ratified by the people] | 1783 [A requisite number of the Town Meetings of Spring 1783 having ratified the third draft of this 2nd Constitution "as is", it became effective, 2 June 1784] | |
3rd | 1793-- | 5 September 1792 [Convention convened, 7 September 1791; this Convention proposed 72 amendments to the 1784 Constitution to be redrafted into a whole new document and submitted the same to the People on 8 February 1792. (NOTE: The State of New Hampshire regards this 1792 draft as merely a recodification of the 1784 (2nd) Constitution and, thus, claims that the State has had only 2 Constitutions with the 1784 Constitution still in force; however, the most reliable [as well as earliest] omnibus sources of the texts of State Constitutions consider this document to be a 3rd New Hampshire Constitution and, in the opinion of TheGreenPapers.com, these sources seem to have been the more correct ). This September 1792 adoption date is the date the Convention adjourned sine die after having declared this 3rd Constitution to have been ratified] | 27 August 1792 [46 of the 72 amendments proposed by the Convention of 1791-1792 were accepted by the People on 7 May 1792; the Convention then had to reconcile more than a few difficulties caused by not all the proposed amendments having been accepted and resubmitted a reworked draft to the People. This August 1792 ratification date refers to the acceptance of this Constitution by the People "as is". This 3rd Constitution became effective, 5 June 1793] | |
New Jersey | The 3rd state, Ratified Constitution of the United States, 18 December 1787 | |||
Enabling Act: [None. One of the 13 original States which declared their independence from the nascent British Empire on 4 July 1776] | ||||
1st | 1776-1844 | 2 July 1776 ["Provincial Congress" (a convention) convened, 26 May 1776] | 3 July 1776 [not submitted to the People: date is that on which this Constitution was proclaimed] | |
2nd | 1844-1947 | 29 June 1844 [Convention convened, 14 May 1844] | 13 August 1844 [ratified by vote of 20,276 to 3,526; effective, 2 September 1844] | |
3rd | 1948-- | 10 September 1947 [Convention convened, 12 June 1947] | 4 November 1947 [ratified by a vote of 653,096 to 184,632; effective, 1 January 1948] | |
New Mexico | The 47th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 6 January 1912 [upon Proclamation by President William Howard Taft (37 Stat. 1723) that conditions- set by a Joint Resolution of the 62nd Congress (37 Stat. 39) on 21 August 1911 admitting the State- had been satisfactorily met] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 20 June 1910 [36 Stat. 557: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter; this Enabling Act replaced an earlier Enabling Act of 16 June 1906 (34 Stat. 267) which was conditional upon Arizona and New Mexico agreeing to reunite as a single State of "Arizona", a proposition that was approved on 6 November 1906 in New Mexico by a vote of 26,195 to 14,735- but for which the aggregate vote was 31,000 to 29,336 against] | ||||
1st | 1912-- | 21 November 1910 [Convention convened, 3 October 1910] | 5 November 1911 [effective upon Admission, 6 January 1912. (This Constitution was originally ratified by the People, 21 January 1911; however, on 15 August 1911, President William Howard Taft vetoed a Joint Resolution of Congress [H.J. Res. 14, 62d Congress] admitting both Arizona and New Mexico due to his objections to Arizona's Constitution providing for Recall of Judges. Congress thereafter passed a second Joint Resolution [37 Stat. 39] again admitting both States and, while requiring New Mexico to submit its original Amending Procedure to vote of the People [which had also been a provision of the first Joint Resolution that had been vetoed], also demanded that Arizona remove its constitutional provision allowing for Recall of Judges: evidently, President Taft had no contrary position on the issue of New Mexico's Amending Procedure and signed 37 Stat. 39 into law on 21 August 1911. As a result, this Constitution had to be resubmitted to the People with an alternative Amending Procedure as required by the second Joint Resolution)]] | |
New York | The 11th state, Ratified Constitution of the United States, 26 July 1788 | |||
Enabling Act: [None. One of the 13 original States which declared their independence from the nascent British Empire on 4 July 1776] | ||||
1st | 1777-1821 | 20 April 1777 [Provincial Congress (the 'de facto' legislature of New York at the time) reconstituted itself as the "Convention of State Representatives" for purposes of drafting a State Constitution, 10 July 1776] | 20 April 1777 [not submitted to the People] | |
2nd | 1823-1846 | 10 November 1821 [Convention convened, 28 August 1821] | 17 January 1822 [ratified by a vote of 74,732 to 41,402; effective, 1 January 1823] | |
3rd | 1847-1894 | 9 October 1846 [Convention convened, 1 June 1846] | 3 November 1846 [ratified by a vote of 221,528 to 92,436; effective, 1 January 1847] | |
4th | 1895-- | 29 September 1894 [Convention convened, 8 May 1894] | 6 November 1894 [ratified by a vote of 410,697 to 327,402; effective, 1 January 1895. (NOTE: The work of the Constitutional Convention of 5 April 1938 to 26 August 1938, submitted to the People and ratified by a vote of 1,521,036 to 1,301,797 on 8 November 1938 [effective, 1 January 1939], is considered to merely be a recodification of the Constitution of 1894 and is, thus, not generally considered to be New York's "5th Constitution" )] | |
North Carolina | The 12th state, Ratified Constitution of the United States, 21 November 1789 | |||
Enabling Act: [None. One of the 13 original States which declared their independence from the nascent British Empire on 4 July 1776] | ||||
1st | 1776-1868 | 18 December 1776 [Convention convened, 12 November 1776] | 18 December 1776 [not submitted to the People] | |
2nd | 1868-1876 | 16 March 1868 [Convention convened, 14 January 1868] | April 1868 [ratified by a vote of 93,118 to 74,009] | |
3rd | 1876-1971 | 12 October 1875 [Convention convened, 6 September 1875] | 7 November 1876 [ratified by a vote of 122,912 to 108,829] | |
4th | 1971-- | 1969 [drafted and enacted by the General Assembly] | 3 November 1970 [effective, 1 July 1971] | |
North Dakota | The 39th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 2 November 1889 [upon Proclamation by President Benjamin Harrison (26 Stat. 1548)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 22 February 1889 [25 Stat. 676: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1889-- | 17 August 1889 [Convention convened, 4 July 1889] | 1 October 1889 [ratified by a vote of 27,441 to 8,107; effective upon Admission, 2 November 1889. (A separate vote on Article 20- prohibiting the manufacture, sale and importation of intoxicating beverages- approved this provision by a vote of 18,552 to 17,393)] | |
Northern Marianas | [COMMONWEALTH status achieved 3 November 1986 (official separation from the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands under US law, formally accepted by the UN on 22 December 1990)] | |||
Ohio | The 17th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 1 March 1803 [by an Act of Congress of 19 February 1803 (2 Stat. 201) apparently recognizing a State government already formed. [NOTE: The 1 March 1803 date of Admission to Statehood has only been official since the adoption of the Bender Ohio Statehood Act of 7 August 1953; prior to this, it appears that historians had generally accepted a Statehood date of 29 November 1802, although Ohio itself seems to have regarded 1803 as the year it had become a State, hence the apparent need for the 1953 legislation (please see the essay entitled 'Clearing up the Confusion surrounding OHIO's Admission to Statehood' for further exposition)]] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 30 April 1802 [2 Stat. 173: authorizing the formation of a State government and Admission thereafter (further explanation is available in the essay entitled 'Clearing up the Confusion surrounding OHIO's Admission to Statehood')] | ||||
1st | 1803-1851 | 29 November 1802 [Convention convened, 1 November 1802] | 29 November 1802 [not submitted to the People; effective upon Admission, 19 February (1 March) 1803] | |
2nd | 1851-- | 10 March 1851 [Convention convened, 6 May 1850] | 17 June 1851 [ratified by a vote of 126,663 to 109,699; effective, 1 September 1851] | |
Oklahoma | The 46th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 16 November 1907 [upon Proclamation by President Theodore Roosevelt (35 Stat. 2160)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 16 June 1906 [34 Stat. 267: authorizing the formation of a State government with Admission thereafter (under the terms of this statute, the State of Oklahoma was to be created by a merger of the then-existing incorporated Oklahoma Territory with the then-also existing unincorporated Indian Territory)] | ||||
1st | 1907-- | 16 July 1907 [Convention convened, 20 November 1906] | 17 September 1907 [effective upon Admission, 16 November 1907] | |
Oregon | The 33rd state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 14 February 1859 [by an Act of Congress (11 Stat. 383) recognizing a State government already formed] | |||
Enabling Act: [Oregon never had an Enabling Act prior to its Admission as a State] | ||||
1st | 1859-- | 18 September 1857 [Convention convened, 17 August 1857] | 9 November 1857 [ratified by a vote of 7,195 to 3,195; effective upon Admission, 14 February 1859] | |
Pennsylvania | The 2nd state, Ratified Constitution of the United States, 12 December 1787 | |||
Enabling Act: [None. One of the 13 original States which declared their independence from the nascent British Empire on 4 July 1776] | ||||
1st | 1776-1790 | 28 September 1776 [Convention convened, 15 July 1776] | 28 September 1776 [not submitted to the People] | |
2nd | 1790-1838 | 2 September 1790 [Convention convened, 24 November 1789; this Adoption date reflects the date the Convention adjourned sine die after having declared this Constitution in force as a result of first having "shewn the work" to the People and thereafter reconvening on 9 August 1790 to work on suggested amendments before proclaiming this Constitution in force] | 2 September 1790 [The Convention had submitted this 2nd Constitution to the People for purposes of discussion and then recessed on 26 February 1790 but the People were not called upon to ratify it by an actual vote at the polls] | |
3rd | 1839-1873 | 22 February 1838 [Convention convened, 2 May 1837] | November 1838 [ratified by a vote of 113,971 to 112,759; effective, 1 January 1839] | |
4th | 1874-- | 3 November 1873 [Convention convened, 12 November 1872] | 16 December 1873 [effective, 1 January 1874 (NOTE: This Constitution was recodified in three stages between 1966 and 1968: the General Assembly drafted two sets of amendments which were approved by the voters on 17 May 1966 and 16 May 1967, respectively; a limited Constitutional Convention then met from 1 December 1967 thru 29 February 1968 to work these 1966 and 1967 amendments- along with any amendments proposed by the Convention- into a recodified document which was approved by the voters on 23 April 1968. However, this recodification of 1968 is not generally considered to be a "5th Constitution" per se )] | |
Puerto Rico | [current COMMONWEALTH Government under own Constitution established, 25 July 1952] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 3 July 1950 [Act of Congress which became law on this date enabled the People of PUERTO RICO to, by referendum, authorize the drafting and adoption of its own Constitution in place of Civil Government (aka Organic) Acts authorized by Congress (these last being the Civil Government Act of [12 April, effective 1 May] 1900 [31 Stat. 77] and the Civil Government Act- aka 'Jones Act'- of [2 March] 1917 [39 Stat. 951])] | ||||
Rhode Island | The 13th state, Ratified Constitution of the United States, 29 May 1790 | |||
Enabling Act: [None. One of the 13 original States which declared their independence from the nascent British Empire on 4 July 1776. Rhode Island (which had formally abjured allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain, in lieu of drafting a new Constitution for itself, on 4 May 1776) operated under its colonial Charter of 1663 until 1843] | ||||
1st | 18 November 1841 [This was the so-called "People's Constitution", framed by a Convention convened on 4 October 1841; calling for an independent Judiciary and universal manhood suffrage (both long denied by the colonial Charter of 1663 under which the State then operated), this document set the stage for "Dorr's Rebellion" (Thomas Dorr was elected Governor under this "People's Constitution" on 18 April 1842 but was strongly rebuffed by the State government under the Charter in his attempt to organize the State government along the lines of this "People's Constitution" on 3 May 1842)] | 29 December 1841 [ratified by the Town Meetings] | ||
2nd | 1843-- | 5 November 1842 [This was the so-called "Freeman's Constitution": originally adopted by a Convention called by the legislature (in an attempt to answer the "People's Constitution"), it was rejected by the Town Meetings, 23 March 1842. The Convention reconvened, 12 September 1842 and drafted a modified version of the "Freeman's Constitution" that now incorporated at least some of the features of the "People's Constitution" ratified in December 1841] | 23 November 1842 [ratified by the Town Meetings; effective, 2 May 1843] | |
South Carolina | The 8th state, Ratified Constitution of the United States, 23 May 1788 | |||
Enabling Act: [None. One of the 13 original States which declared their independence from the nascent British Empire on 4 July 1776] | ||||
1st | 1776-1778 | 26 March 1776 [adopted by Provincial Congress (='de facto' legislature)] | 26 March 1776 [not submitted to the People] | |
2nd | 1778-1790 | 19 March 1778 [drafted and enacted by the General Assembly] | 19 March 1778 [not submitted to the People; effective, November 1778] | |
3rd | 1790-1865 | 3 June 1790 | 3 June 1790 [not submitted to the People] | |
4th | 1865-1868 | 27 September 1865 [Convention convened, 13 September 1865] | 27 September 1865 [not submitted to the People] | |
5th | 1868-1895 | 17 March 1868 [Convention convened, 14 January 1868] | 16 April 1868 [ratified by a vote of 70,558 to 27,288] | |
6th | 1896-- | 4 December 1895 [Convention convened, 10 September 1895] | 4 December 1895 [not submitted to the People; effective, 1 January 1896] | |
South Dakota | The 39th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 2 November 1889 [upon Proclamation by President Benjamin Harrison (26 Stat. 1549)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 22 February 1889 [25 Stat. 676: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1889-- | 1889 [Convention convened, 4 July 1889] | 1 October 1889 [ratified by a vote of 70,131 to 3,267; effective upon Admission, 2 November 1889. (A separate vote on Article 24- prohibiting the manufacture, sale and importation of intoxicating beverages- approved this provision by a vote of 40,324 to 34,590; a separate vote on Article 25- providing for minority [that is, proportional] representation in the legislature- rejected this provision by a vote of 46,200 to 24,161)] | |
Tennessee | The 16th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 1 June 1796 [by an Act of Congress (1 Stat. 491) recognizing a State government already formed] | |||
Enabling Act: [Tennessee never had an Enabling Act prior to its Admission as a State] | ||||
1st | 1796-1835 | 6 February 1796 [Convention convened, 11 January 1796] | 6 February 1796 [not submitted to the People; effective upon Admission, 1 June 1796] | |
2nd | 1835-1870 | 30 August 1834 [Convention convened, 19 May 1834] | 6 March 1835 [ratified by a vote of 42,666 to 17,691] | |
3rd | 1870-- | 23 February 1870 [Convention convened, 10 January 1870] | 26 March 1870 [ratified by a vote of 98,128 to 33,872] | |
Texas | The 28th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 29 December 1845 [by a Joint Resolution of Congress (9 Stat. 108) [NOTE: The Texas Annexation Resolution (5 Stat. 797) contained a provision specifically permitting Texas to divide itself into up to 5 new States of the Union; this provision, however, would unconstitutionally place Texas on other than the "equal footing" with its sister States declared upon its Admission (in 9 Stat. 108)-- see the essay May Texas *really* split itself into up to five States on its own? for further information]] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 1 March 1845 [The resolution of this date annexing the Republic of Texas to the United States (5 Stat. 797) functioned as an equivalent to an Enabling Act authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter; this annexation was formally accepted by the Republic of Texas (via a Consent Resolution adopted by the Congress of the Republic) on 23 June 1845 (and the State Constitutional Convention- upon first convening on 4 July 1845- formally made both the American and Texan Congressional Resolutions aforementioned the legal basis on which said Convention was thereafter entitled to act)] | ||||
1st | 1836-1845 | 17 March 1836 [This was the Constitution of the REPUBLIC of Texas, framed by a Convention which convened on 1 March 1836, formally declared independence from Mexico on 2 March, adopted an "Executive Ordinance" to provide for a provisional government for the Republic and then drafted this Constitution] | 17 March 1836 [not submitted to the People] | |
2nd | 1845-1866 | 27 August 1845 [Convention convened, 4 July 1845] | 13 October 1845 [ratified by a vote of 4,174 to 312; effective upon Admission, 29 December 1845] | |
3rd | 1866-1869 | 2 April 1866 [Convention convened, March 1866] | 25 June 1866 [ratified by a vote of 34,794 to 11,235] | |
4th | 1869-1876 | December 1868 [Convention convened, 1 June 1868] | 3 December 1869 [ratified by a vote of 72,395 to 4,924] | |
5th | 1876-- | 24 November 1875 [Convention convened, 6 September 1875] | 17 February 1876 | |
Utah | The 45th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 4 January 1896 [upon Proclamation by President Grover Cleveland (29 Stat. 876)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 16 July 1894 [28 Stat. 107: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1896-- | 8 May 1895 [Convention convened, 4 March 1895] | 5 November 1895 [effective upon Admission, 4 January 1896] | |
Vermont | The 14th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 4 March 1791 [by an Act of Congress of 18 February 1791 (1 Stat. 191) recognizing a State government already formed] | |||
Enabling Act: [Vermont never had an Enabling Act prior to Statehood] | ||||
1st | 1777-1786 | 8 July 1777 [Convention convened, 2 July 1777] | March 1778 [not submitted to the People: accepted by the General Assembly on this date] | |
2nd | 1786-1793 | 4 July 1786 [Convention convened, 29 June 1786] | March 1787 [not submitted to the People: accepted by the General Assembly on this date] | |
3rd | 1793-- | 9 July 1793 [Convention convened, 3 July 1793] | 1793 [not submitted to the People] | |
Virginia | The 10th state, Ratified Constitution of the United States, 25 June 1788 | |||
Enabling Act: [None. One of the 13 original States which declared their independence from the nascent British Empire on 4 July 1776] | ||||
1st | 1776-1830 | 29 June 1776 [Convention convened, 6 May 1776. (Declaration of Rights adopted 12 June 1776)] | 29 June 1776 [not submitted to the People] | |
2nd | 1830-1851 | 14 January 1830 [Convention convened, 5 October 1829] | 1830 [ratified by vote of 26,055 to 15,563] | |
3rd | 1851-1864 | 1 August 1851 [Convention convened, 14 October 1850] | 23 October 1851 [ratified by vote of 67,562 to 9,938] | |
4th | 1864-1870 | 11 April 1864 [Convention convened, 13 February 1864] | 11 April 1864 [not submitted to the People] | |
5th | 1870-1902 | 7 April 1868 [Convention convened, July 1867] | 6 July 1869 [ratified by vote of 210,585 to 9,136; effective, 1870] | |
6th | 1902-1971 | 26 June 1902 [Convention convened, 12 June 1902] | 26 June 1902 [not submitted to the People; effective, 10 July 1902] | |
7th | 1971-- | 1970 [drafted by the General Assembly in 1969; enacted by the General Assembly and submitted to the People on the above date] | 1970 [effective, 1 July 1971] | |
Washington | The 42nd state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 11 November 1889 [upon Proclamation by President Benjamin Harrison (26 Stat. 1552)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 22 February 1889 [25 Stat. 676: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1889-- | 22 August 1889 [Convention convened, 4 July 1889] | 1 October 1889 [ratified by vote of 40,152 to 11,879; effective upon Admission, 11 November 1889] | |
West Virginia | The 35th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 20 June 1863 [through Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln on 20 April 1863 (13 Stat. 731) that the conditions set forth in the Enabling Act had been satisfactorily met] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 31 December 1862 [12 Stat. 633: recognizing a State government already formed with Admission pending the meeting of specific conditions set by this Enabling Act [NOTE: prior to its first State Constitutional Convention first meeting in November 1861, an earlier State Convention (on 20 August 1861) had adopted an ordinance of secession from Virginia under the name of the 'State of KANAWHA' (this ordinance was later ratified by the People- on 24 October 1861- by a vote of 18,408 to 781); the 1st Constitution, however, formally adopted the name 'State of WEST VIRGINIA']] | ||||
1st | 1863-1872 | 18 February 1862 [Convention convened, 26 November 1861] | 3 April 1862 [ratified by vote of 28,321 to 572; effective upon Admission, 20 June 1863] | |
2nd | 1872-- | 9 April 1872 [Convention convened, 16 January 1872] | 22 August 1872 | |
Wisconsin | The 30th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 29 May 1848 [by an Act of Congress (9 Stat. 233)] | |||
Enabling Act (of the Congress of the United States): 6 August 1846 [9 Stat. 56: authorizing formation of a State government and Admission thereafter] | ||||
1st | 1848-- | 1 February 1848 [Convention convened, 15 December 1847 (this was the second attempt to draft a State Constitution: a Convention, which had convened on 5 October 1846, adopted a Constitution which prohibited banks from operating within the State on 16 December 1846; this document was ultimately rejected, thus delaying Statehood for Wisconsin)] | 13 March 1848 [ratified by a vote of 16,442 to 6,149; effective upon Admission, 29 May 1848 (the anti-banking Constitution framed by the 1846 Convention had been rejected by the People in April 1847)] | |
Wyoming | The 44th state, Admitted to the Union as a State, 10 July 1890 [by an Act of Congress (26 Stat. 222) recognizing a State government already formed] | |||
Enabling Act: [Wyoming never had an Enabling Act prior to Admission as a State] | ||||
1st | 1890-- | 30 September 1889 [Convention convened, 2 September 1889] | 5 November 1889 [ratified by a vote of 6,272 to 1,923; effective upon Admission, 10 July 1890] | |
State | Constitution | adopted by Constitutional Convention [unless otherwise indicated] | Ratified by vote of the People [unless otherwise indicated] | |
SORTED BY | (sort) | (sort) | (sort) |
State and Local Government Outline
- State and Local Government Home
- Executive and Legislative Branches
- Judiciary
- Local Government
- Statutes
- Election Authorities
Modified .