Information On U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of 50 federated state of the United States that share sovereignty with the federal government of the United States Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of Domicile (law) See the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution Four states use the official title of [[Commonwealth (U.S. state)|commonwealth]]rather than statea. Third Constitution of Kentucky (1850), Article 2, Section 1 ff. Other portions of the same Constitution refer to the "State of Kentucky".
b. Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Preamble.
c. Constitution of Pennsylvania, Preamble.
d. Constitution of Virginia (1971), Article IV, Section 1. State citizenship is flexible and no government approval is required to move between states (with the exception of convicts on parole . The United States Constitution allocates power between these two levels of government. By ratifying the Constitution, the people transferred certain Limited government sovereign powers to the federal government from their states. Under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution all powers not delegated to the U.S. government nor prohibited to the states are retained by the states or the People of the United States Historically, the tasks of public safety (in the sense of controlling crime), public education, public health, transportation, and infrastructure have generally been considered primarily state responsibilities, although all of these now have significant federal funding and regulation as well (based largely upon the Commerce Clause the Taxing and Spending Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution). Over time, the Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and Incorporation (Bill of Rights) with the federal government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a continuing debate over states' rights which concerns the extent and nature of the states powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government as well as the rights of individual persons. Congress may admit new states on an equal footing with existing ones; however, it has not done so since 1959. The Constitution is silent on the question of whether states have the power to unilaterally leave, or secede from, the Union, but the Supreme Court has ruledAleksandar Pavković, Peter Radan, http://books.google.com/books?id-IjHbPvp1W0C Creating New States: Theory and Practice of Secession], p. 222, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2007.http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0074_0700_ZO.html Texas v. White, 74 U.S. 700 (1868) at Cornell University Law School Supreme Court collection. secession to be unconstitutional, a position driven in part by the outcome of the American Civil War.

List of states

lt;!--Linked from Template:US states navbox with columns/doc -> The following sortable table lists each of the 50 states of the United States with the following information: #The political divisions of the United States#States of the United States #The preferred pronunciation of the common state name as transcribed with the International Phonetic Alphabet (see Help:IPA for English for a key) #The United States Postal Service (USPS) two-character United States postal abbreviations lt;ref nameUSPSabbrev>lt;/ref>
(also used as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standard ISO 3166-2 ISO 3166-2:US #An image of the official flags of the U.S. states #The date the state List of U.S. states by date of statehood the United States Constitution or was admitted to the United States #The United States Census Bureau estimate of state population as of lt;ref namePopEstState>accessdate} #The List of capitals in the United States#State capitals #The most populous incorporated place or Census Designated Place within the state as of as estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau lt;ref namePopEstIP>accessdate} | class"wikitable sortable" style"width:100%;" |+The 50 United States of America !Name !class"unsortable" | IPA !USPS !class"unsortable" | Flag !Date !Population (lt;ref>http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bmy&-geo_id01000US&-_box_head_nbrGCT-T1&-ds_namePEP_2009_EST&-_langen&-formatUS-40&-_sseon GCT-T1. Population Estimates : 2009 Population Estimates], U.S. Census Bureau.) !Capital !Most populous city |- |Alabama | |aligncenter|AL |aligncenter|File:Flag of Alabama.svg | |alignright|4,708,708 |Montgomery, Alabama |Birmingham, Alabama |- |Alaska | |aligncenter|AK |aligncenter|File:Flag of Alaska.svg | |alignright|698,473 |Juneau, Alaska |Anchorage, Alaska |- |Arizona | |aligncenter|AZ |aligncenter|File:Flag of Arizona.svg | |alignright|6,595,778 |Phoenix, Arizona |Phoenix, Arizona |- |Arkansas | |aligncenter|AR |aligncenter|File:Flag of Arkansas.svg | |alignright|2,889,450 |Little Rock, Arkansas |Little Rock, Arkansas |- |California | |aligncenter|CA |aligncenter|File:Flag of California.svg | |alignright|36,961,664 |Sacramento, California |Los Angeles |- |Colorado | |aligncenter|CO |aligncenter|File:Flag of Colorado.svg | |alignright|5,024,748 |Denver |Denver |- |Connecticut | |aligncenter|CT |aligncenter|File:Flag of Connecticut.svg | |alignright|3,518,288 |Hartford, Connecticut |Bridgeport, Connecticut lt;ref nameHartford>The Hartford-West Hartford-Willimantic Combined Statistical Area is the most populous metropolitan area in Connecticut |- |Delaware | |aligncenter|DE |aligncenter|File:Flag of Delaware.svg | |alignright|885,122 |Dover, Delaware |Wilmington, Delaware |- |Florida | |aligncenter|FL |aligncenter|File:Flag of Florida.svg | |alignright|18,537,969 |Tallahassee, Florida |Jacksonville, Florida lt;ref nameMiami>The South Florida metropolitan area is the most populous metropolitan area in Florida |- |Georgia (U.S. state) | |aligncenter|GA |aligncenter|File:Flag of Georgia (U.S. state).svg | |alignright|9,829,211 |Atlanta |Atlanta |- |Hawaii | |aligncenter|HI |aligncenter|File:Flag of Hawaii.svg | |alignright|1,295,178 |Honolulu |Honolulu |- |Idaho | |aligncenter|ID |aligncenter|File:Flag of Idaho.svg | |alignright|1,545,801 |Boise, Idaho |Boise, Idaho |- |Illinois | |aligncenter|IL |aligncenter|File:Flag of Illinois.svg | |alignright|12,910,409 |Springfield, Illinois |Chicago |- |Indiana | |aligncenter|IN |aligncenter|File:Flag of Indiana.svg | |alignright|6,423,113 |Indianapolis |Indianapolis |- |Iowa | |aligncenter|IA |aligncenter|File:Flag of Iowa.svg | |alignright|3,007,856 |Des Moines, Iowa |Des Moines, Iowa |- |Kansas | |aligncenter|KS |aligncenter|File:Flag of Kansas.svg | |alignright|2,818,747 |Topeka, Kansas |Wichita, Kansas |- |Kentucky lt;ref namecommonwealth>Official name calls it a commonwealth | |aligncenter|KY |aligncenter|File:Flag of Kentucky.svg | |alignright|4,314,113 |Frankfort, Kentucky |Louisville, Kentucky |- |Louisiana | |aligncenter|LA |aligncenter|File:Flag of Louisiana.svg | |alignright|4,492,076 |Baton Rouge, Louisiana |New Orleans |- |Maine | |aligncenter|ME |aligncenter|File:Flag of Maine.svg | |alignright|1,318,301 |Augusta, Maine |Portland, Maine |- |Maryland | |aligncenter|MD |aligncenter|File:Flag of Maryland.svg | |alignright|5,699,478 |Annapolis, Maryland |Baltimore lt;ref nameMaryland>Baltimore and the 12 Maryland county (United States) of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area form the most populous metropolitan region in Maryland. |- |Massachusetts lt;ref namecommonwealth/> | |aligncenter|MA |aligncenter|File:Flag of Massachusetts.svg | |alignright|6,593,587 |Boston |Boston |- |Michigan | |aligncenter|MI |aligncenter|File:Flag of Michigan.svg | |alignright|9,969,727 |Lansing, Michigan |Detroit |- |Minnesota | |aligncenter|MN |aligncenter|File:Flag of Minnesota.svg | |alignright|5,266,214 |Saint Paul, Minnesota |Minneapolis |- |Mississippi | |aligncenter|MS |aligncenter|File:Flag of Mississippi.svg | |alignright|2,951,996 |Jackson, Mississippi |Jackson, Mississippi |- |Missouri | |aligncenter|MO |aligncenter|File:Flag of Missouri.svg | |alignright|5,987,580 |Jefferson City, Missouri |Kansas City, Missouri lt;ref nameSaint_Louis>The St. Louis, Missouri and the 8 Missouri county (United States) of the Greater St. Louis form the most populous metropolitan region in Missouri. |- |Montana | |aligncenter|MT |aligncenter|File:Flag of Montana.svg | |alignright|974,989 |Helena, Montana |Billings, Montana |- |Nebraska | |aligncenter|NE |aligncenter|File:Flag of Nebraska.svg | |alignright|1,796,619 |Lincoln, Nebraska |Omaha, Nebraska |- |Nevada | |aligncenter|NV |aligncenter|File:Flag of Nevada.svg | |alignright|2,643,085 |Carson City, Nevada |Las Vegas, Nevada |- |New Hampshire | |aligncenter|NH |aligncenter|File:Flag of New Hampshire.svg | |alignright|1,324,575 |Concord, New Hampshire |Manchester, New Hampshire lt;ref nameRockingham>The 5 southeastern New Hampshire county (United States) of the Greater Boston form the most populous metropolitan region in New Hampshire. |- |New Jersey | |aligncenter|NJ |aligncenter|File:Flag of New Jersey.svg | |alignright|8,707,739 |Trenton, New Jersey |Newark, New Jersey lt;ref nameNew_Jersey>The 13 northern New Jersey county (United States) of the New York metropolitan area form the most populous metropolitan region in New Jersey. |- |New Mexico | |aligncenter|NM |aligncenter|File:Flag of New Mexico.svg | |alignright|2,009,671 |Santa Fe, New Mexico |Albuquerque, New Mexico |- |New York | |aligncenter|NY |aligncenter|File:Flag of New York.svg | |alignright|19,541,453 |Albany, New York |New York City lt;ref>New York City is the List of United States cities by population in the United States. |- |North Carolina | |aligncenter|NC |aligncenter|File:Flag of North Carolina.svg | |alignright|9,380,884 |Raleigh, North Carolina |Charlotte, North Carolina |- |North Dakota | |aligncenter|ND |aligncenter|File:Flag of North Dakota.svg | |alignright|646,844 |Bismarck, North Dakota |Fargo, North Dakota |- |Ohio | |aligncenter|OH |aligncenter|File:Flag of Ohio.svg | |alignright|11,542,645 |Columbus, Ohio |Columbus, Ohio lt;ref nameCleveland>The Greater Cleveland is the most populous metropolitan area in Ohio |- |Oklahoma | |aligncenter|OK |aligncenter|File:Flag of Oklahoma.svg | |alignright|3,687,050 |Oklahoma City |Oklahoma City |- |Oregon | |aligncenter|OR |aligncenter|File:Flag of Oregon.svg | |alignright|3,825,657 |Salem, Oregon |Portland, Oregon |- |Pennsylvania lt;ref namecommonwealth/> | |aligncenter|PA |aligncenter|File:Flag of Pennsylvania.svg | |alignright|12,604,767 |Harrisburg, Pennsylvania |Philadelphia |- |Rhode Island lt;ref>Full name is State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations | |aligncenter|RI |aligncenter|File:Flag of Rhode Island.svg | |alignright|1,053,209 |Providence, Rhode Island |Providence, Rhode Island |- |South Carolina | |aligncenter|SC |aligncenter|File:Flag of South Carolina.svg | |alignright|4,561,242 |Columbia, South Carolina |Columbia, South Carolina lt;ref nameGreenville>The Upstate South Carolina is the most populous metropolitan area in South Carolina |- |South Dakota | |aligncenter|SD |aligncenter|File:Flag of South Dakota.svg | |alignright|812,383 |Pierre, South Dakota |Sioux Falls, South Dakota |- |Tennessee | |aligncenter|TN |aligncenter|File:Flag of Tennessee.svg | |alignright|6,296,254 |Nashville, Tennessee |Memphis, Tennessee lt;ref nameNashville>The Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area is the most populous metropolitan area in Tennessee |- |Texas | |aligncenter|TX |aligncenter|File:Flag of Texas.svg | |alignright|24,782,302 |Austin, Texas |Houston lt;ref nameDallas>The Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex is the most populous metropolitan area in Texas |- |Utah | |aligncenter|UT |aligncenter|File:Flag of Utah.svg | |alignright|2,784,572 |Salt Lake City |Salt Lake City |- |Vermont | |aligncenter|VT |aligncenter|File:Flag of Vermont.svg | |alignright|621,760 |Montpelier, Vermont |Burlington, Vermont |- |Virginia lt;ref namecommonwealth/> | |aligncenter|VA |aligncenter|File:Flag of Virginia.svg | |alignright|7,882,590 |Richmond, Virginia |Virginia Beach, Virginia lt;ref nameVirginia>The 10 Virginia county (United States) and 6 independent cities#Virginia of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area form the most populous metropolitan region in Virginia. |- |Washington (U.S. State) | |aligncenter|WA |aligncenter|File:Flag of Washington.svg | |alignright|6,664,195 |Olympia, Washington |Seattle |- |West Virginia | |aligncenter|WV |aligncenter|File:Flag of West Virginia.svg | |alignright|1,819,777 |Charleston, West Virginia |Charleston, West Virginia |- |Wisconsin | |aligncenter|WI |aligncenter|File:Flag of Wisconsin.svg | |alignright|5,654,774 |Madison, Wisconsin |Milwaukee |- |Wyoming | |aligncenter|WY |aligncenter|File:Flag of Wyoming.svg | |alignright|544,270 |Cheyenne, Wyoming |Cheyenne, Wyoming |}

Federal power

Since the 1930s the Supreme Court of the United States has interpreted the Commerce Clause of the Constitution of the United States in an expansive way that has dramatically expanded the scope of federal power For example, Congress can regulate railway traffic across state lines, but it may also regulate rail traffic solely within a state, based on the theory that wholly intrastate traffic can still have an impact on interstate commerce. Another source of Congressional power is its spending power—the ability of Congress to impose uniform taxes across the nation and then distribute the resulting revenue back to the states (subject to conditions set by Congress). A classic example of this is the system of federal-aid highways, which includes the Interstate Highway System The system is mandated and largely funded by the federal government, but also serves the interests of the states. By threatening to withhold United States Numbered Highways funds,Congress has been able to pressure state legislatures to pass a variety of laws. Although some object that this infringes on states rights, the Supreme Court has upheld the practice as a permissible use of the Constitutions Spending Clause.

Governments

States are free to organize their State governments of the United States any way they like, so long as they conform to the sole requirement of the U.S. Constitution that they have "a Republic n Form of Government". (This means that each State government must be a Republic ) In practice, each State has adopted a three-branch form of government (with legislative, executive, and judiciary branches) generally along the same lines as that of the Federal government — though this is not a requirement. Despite the fact that every state has chosen to follow the Federal model of government, there are significant differences in some states. One of the most notable is that of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature which, unlike the legislatures of the other 49 states, has only one body in it. While there is only one Federal president, who then selects his own Cabinet responsible to him, most states have a "plural executive", in which various members of the executive (government) are elected directly by the people. Thus, they serve as members of the executive branch who are not beholden to the State Governor and cannot be dismissed by him or her. Also, just few states choose to have their leaders of the judicial branch - their judges on the states courts serve for life terms. Most of the state judges, including the supreme court justices, are either elected or appointed for terms of a limited number of years, such as five years. Then, they can be re-elected or reappointed if their performance has been judged to be satisfactory. A key difference between states is that many rural states have Part time legislatures, while the states with the highest populations tend to have Full time legislatures. Texas, the second largest state in population, is a notable exception to this: excepting special sessions, the Texas Legislature is limited by law to 140 calendar days out of every two years. In [[Baker v. Carr]] the U.S. Supreme Court held that all states are required to have legislative districts which are proportional in terms of population. States can also organize their judicial systems differently from the United States federal courts as long as they protect the constitutional right of their citizens to procedural due process See state court and state supreme court for more information. Most have a trial level court, generally called a District court or Superior court a first-level Court of Appeals generally called a Court of Appeal (or Appeals), and a Supreme Court. However, Oklahoma and Texas have separate highest courts for criminal appeals. New York state is notorious for its unusual terminology, in that the trial court is called the Supreme Court. Appeals are then taken to the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, and from there to the Court of Appeals. Most states base their legal system on English common law (with substantial indigenous changes and incorporation of certain civil law innovations), with the notable exception of Louisiana, which draws large parts of its legal system from French Civil law (legal system) In 2010 the largest single item in the budget of most states was the public education system.lt;/ref>

Relationships

Under Article Four of the U.S. Constitution which outlines the relationship between the states, the United States Congress has the power to admit new states to the Union. The states are required to give Full Faith and Credit Clause to the acts of each others legislatures and courts, which is generally held to include the recognition of legal contracts, marriages, criminal judgments, and before 1865 — slavery status. States are prohibited from discriminating against citizens of other states with respect to their human rights under the Privileges and Immunities Clause The states are guaranteed military and civil defense by the Federal government, which is also required to ensure that the government of each state remains a republic Four states use the official name of Commonwealth (U.S. state) rather than statea. Third Constitution of Kentucky (1850), Article 2, Section 1 ff.Other portions of the same Constitution refer to the "State of Kentucky".
b. Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Preamble.
c. Constitution of Pennsylvania, Preamble.
d. Constitution of Virginia (1971), Article IV, Section 1. However, this is merely a paper distinction, and the U.S. Constitution uniformlyrefers to all of them as "States", such as in Article_One_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Clause_1:_Composition_and_election_of_Members of the Constitution, concerning the U.S. House of Representatives in which Representatives are to be elected by the people of the "States". Furthermore, Article_One_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Section_3:_Senate concerning the U.S. Senate allocates to each "State" two Senators. However, each of the four above-mentioned "Commonwealths" counts as a State.

Admission into the union

File:US states by date of statehood RWB dates.svg legend|#FF6666|1791–1799}}legend|#FFCCCC|1820–1839}}legend|#CCCCFF|1860–1879}}legend|#6666FF|1900–1950}}] File:US states by date of statehood3.gif Since the establishment of the United States, the number of states has expanded from 13 to 50. The U.S. Constitution is rather laconic on the process by which new states could be added, noting only that "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union", and forbidding a new state to be created out of the territory of an existing state, or the merging of two or more states into one without the consent of both Congress and all the state legislatures involved. In practice, most of the states admitted to the union after the original thirteen have been formed from Territories of the United States (that is, land under the sovereignty of the Federal government but not part of any state) that were organized territory (given a measure of self-governance by the Congress). The exceptions to this process have included three states that were carved out of the land of their original state, with the permission (in one case, questionable permission) of its legislature: Vermont the 14th state; Kentucky the 15th state; West Virginia the 36th state; and then Texas which had been the independent Republic of Texas for a decade, the 34th state; and California which was admitted to the Union in 1850 directly from newly-acquired land from Mexico Generally speaking, the organized government of a territory made known the sentiment of its population in favor of statehood. Congress then directed that government to organize a constitutional convention (political meeting) to write a State Constitution. Upon acceptance of that Constitution, Congress has always admitted that territory as a state. The broad outlines in this process were established by the Northwest Ordinance (1787), which predated the ratification of the Constitution. However, Congress has ultimate authority over the admission of new states, and is not bound to follow this procedure. A few U.S. states (outside of the original 13) that were never organized territories of the federal government have been admitted: * [[Vermont]] an unrecognized but de facto Vermont Republic until its admission in 1791 * [[Kentucky]] a part of Virginia until its admission in 1792 * [[Maine]] a part of Massachusetts until its admission in 1820 following the Missouri Compromise * [[Texas]] a recognized independent republic until its admission in 1845 * [[California]] created as a state (as part of the Compromise of 1850 out of the unorganized territory of the Mexican Cession in 1850 without ever having been a separate organized territory itself * [[West Virginia]] created from areas of Virginia that rejoined the union in 1863, after the 1861 secession of Virginia to the Confederate States of America Congress is also under no obligation to admit states even in those areas whose population expresses a desire for statehood. For instance, the Republic of Texas requested annexation to the United States in 1837, but fears about the conflict with Mexico that would result delayed admission for nine years.lt;/ref> The Utah Territory was denied admission to the union as a state for decades because of discomfort with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dominance in the territory, its desire to name the region Deseret (Book of Mormon) due to its ties to Mormonism and particularly with the Mormon then-practice of polygamy Once established, state borders have been largely stable. There have been exceptions, such as the cession by Maryland and Virginia of land to create the District of Columbia (Virginias portion was later District of Columbia retrocession and the creation of states from other states, including the creation of Kentucky and West Virginia from Virginia, Maine from Massachusetts, and Tennessee from North Carolina.

Possible new states

Puerto Rico

Today, there are several U.S. territories left that might potentially become new states. The most likely candidate may be Puerto Rico Puerto Rico has been under U.S. sovereignty for over a century, and Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917. Puerto Rico currently has limited representation in the U.S. Congress in the form of a Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico a nonvoting delegate.lt;/ref> President George H. W. Bush issued a memorandum on November 30, 1992 to heads of executive departments and agencies establishing the current administrative relationship between the federal government and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This memorandum directs all federal departments, agencies, and officials to treat Puerto Rico administratively as if it were a state, insofar as doing so would not disrupt federal programs or operations. The commonwealths government has organized several referendum on the question of status over the past several decades, though Congress has not recognized these as binding; all shown resulted in narrow victories for the status quo over statehood, with independence supported by only a small number of voters. On December 23, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed executive Order 13183, which established the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status and the rules for its membership. Section 4 of executive Order 13183 (as amended by executive Order 13319) directs the task force to "report on its actions to the President ... on progress made in the determination of Puerto Rico’s ultimate status".lt;/ref> President George W. Bush signed an additional amendment to Executive Order 13183 on December 3, 2003, which established the current co-chairs and instructed the task force to issue reports as needed, but no less than once every two years. In December 2005, the presidential task force proposed a new set of referendums on the issue; if Congress votes in line with the task forces recommendation, it would pave the way for the first congressionally mandated votes on status in the island, and (potentially) statehood by 2011. The task forces December 2007 status report reiterated and confirmed the proposals made in 2005.lt;/ref>http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:170:./temp/~bdadu6::|/bss/d111query.html H.R. 2499] – Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009 H.R. 2499 On April 29, 2010, the U.S. House of U.S. Congress voted 223–169 to approve a Puerto Rico Democracy Act bill for a federal sanctioned process for Puerto Ricos self determination allowing Puerto Rico to set a new referendum that it would pave the way for the first congressionally mandated votes on status in the island, and (potentially) statehood by 2011.lt;/ref>

Washington D.C.

The intention of the Founding Fathers of the United States was that the United States capital should be at a neutral site, not giving favor to any existing state; as a result, the District of Columbia was created in 1800 to serve as the seat of government The inhabitants of the District do not have Proportional representation in Congress or a sovereign elected government (they were allotted presidential electors by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution and have a Delegate (United States Congress) in U.S. Congress . Some residents of the District support D.C. statehood movement#History of some form for that jurisdiction—either statehood for the whole district or for the inhabited part, with the remainder remaining under federal jurisdiction (United States) While statehood is always a live political question in the District, the prospects for any movement in that direction in the immediate future seem dim. Instead, an emphasis on continuing Devolution in the District while also giving the District a vote in Congress is gaining support. According to Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, "New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress."lt;/ref> This was the case when Maine was split off from Massachusetts; and when West Virginia was split from Virginia during the Civil War. When Texas was admitted to the union in 1845, it was much larger than any other state and was specifically granted the right to divide itself into as many as five separate states.lt;/ref>

Unrecognized entities

: See also: [[Historical regions of the United States#Unrecognized or self-declared entities|Historical regions of the United States]] * The State of Franklin existed for four years not long after the end of the American Revolution, but was never recognized by the union, which ultimately recognized North Carolina s claim of sovereignty over the area. A majority of the states were willing to recognize Franklin, but the number of states in favor fell short of the two-thirds majority required to admit a territory to statehood under the Articles of Confederation The territory comprising Franklin later became part of the state of Tennessee. * State of Jefferson ** On July 24, 1859, voters defeated the formation of the proposed Jefferson Territory in the Southern Rocky Mountains. On October 24, 1859, voters instead approved the formation of the Territory of Jefferson which was superseded by the Territory of Colorado on February 28, 1861. ** In 1915, a second State of Jefferson was proposed for the northern third of Texas but failed to obtain majority approval by Congress. ** In 1941, a third State of Jefferson was proposed in the mostly rural area of southern Oregon and northern California but was cancelled as a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor This proposal has been raised several times since. * State of Lincoln ** State of Lincoln is another state that has been proposed multiple times. It generally consists of the eastern portion of Washington (U.S. state) state and the panhandle or northern portion of Idaho It was originally proposed by Idaho in 1864 to include just the panhandle of Idaho, and again in 1901 to include eastern Washington. Proposals have come up in 1996, 1999, and 2005. ** Lincoln is also the name of a failed state proposal after the American Civil War in 1869. The southwestern section of Texas was proposed to Congress as a new state during the Reconstruction period of the Federal government after the American Civil War * State of Muskogee (in Florida 1800), an unrecognized state with large Native Americans in the United States populations. * Superior (proposed state) ** A proposed state formed out of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan of Michigan Several prominent legislators including local politician Dominic Jacobetti formally attempted this legislation in the 1970s, with no success. As a state, it would have had, by far, the smallest population, and remaining so through the present day. Its 320,000 residents would equal only 60% of Wyomings population, and less than 50% of Alaskas population. Such a state would rank 40th in land area, just larger than that of Maryland. * State of Deseret ** The State of Deseret was a provisional state of the United States, proposed in 1849 by the Latter-day Saint settlers in Salt Lake City The provisional state existed for slightly over two years and was never accepted by the United States Congress Its name was derived from the Deseret (Book of Mormon) in the Book of Mormon

Secession

The Constitution is silent on the issue of the secession of a state from the union. However, its predecessor document, the Articles of Confederation, stated that the United States of America "shall be perpetual." The question of whether or not individual states held the right to unilateral secession remained a difficult and divisive one until the American Civil War. In 1860 and 1861, eleven southern states seceded, but following their defeat in the American Civil War were brought back into the Union during the Reconstruction era of the United States Following the American Civil War the United States Supreme Court, in [[Texas v. White]] held that states did not have the right to secede and that any act of secession was legally void. Drawing on the Preamble to the United States Constitution which states that the Constitution was intended to "form a more perfect union" and speaks of the people of the United States of America in effect as a single body politic, as well as the language of the Articles of Confederation, the Supreme Court maintained that states did not have a right to secede. However, the courts reference in the same decision to the possibility of such changes occurring "through revolution, or through consent of the States," essentially means that this decision holds that no state has a right to unilaterally decide to leave the Union.

Commonwealths

Four of the states bear the formal title of Commonwealth (U.S. state) Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In these cases, this is merely a historically-based name and it has no legal effect. Somewhat confusingly, two U.S. territories — Puerto Rico and the Northern Marianas amp;nbsp;— are also referred to as Commonwealth (U.S. insular area) and that designation does have a legal status different from that of the 50 states. Both of these commonwealths are unincorporated territories of the United States.

Origin of states' names

State names speak to the circumstances of their creation. See the lists of list of U.S. state name etymologies and lists of U.S. county name etymologies

Regional grouping

File:Map of USA showing regions.png Midwestern United States Southern United States and Northeastern United States Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited island Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] States may be grouped in regions; there are endless variations and possible groupings, as most states are not defined by obvious geographic or cultural borders. For further discussion of regions of the U.S., see the list of regions of the United States

Lists

References

External links

* http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/st/allstate.htm Information about All States] from UCB Libraries GovPubs * http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/states/ State Resource Guides, from the Library of Congress] * http://factfinder.census.gov/bf/_langen_vt_nameDEC_2000_SF1_U_GCTPH1R_US9S_geo_id01000US.html Tables with areas, populations, densities and more (in order of population)] * http://factfinder.census.gov/bf/_langen_vt_nameDEC_2000_SF1_U_GCTPH1_US9_geo_id01000US.html Tables with areas, populations, densities and more (alphabetical)] * http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/State_and_Territories.shtml State and Territorial Governments on USA.gov] * http://www.statemaster.com/index.php StateMaster – statistical database for US States.] * http://www.top50states.com/ U.S. States: Comparisons, rankings, demographics] Category:States of the United States Category:Subdivisions of the United States Category:Lists of country subdivisions Category:Country subdivisions of the Americas Category:First-level administrative country subdivisions ar:ولاية أمريكية an:Organización territorial d'os Estatos Unitos arc:ܐܬܪܘܬܐ ܕܐܬܪܘܬܐ ܡܚܝܕܐ ܕܐܡܪܝܟܐ frp:Ètats des Ètats-Unis d’Amèrica ast:Estaos d'Estaos Xuníos az:Ştat (ABŞ) zh-min-nan:Bí-kok ê hêng-chèng-khu be:Штаты ЗША be-x-old:Штат ЗША br:Stadoù ar Stadoù-Unanet bg:Административно деление на САЩ ca:Estats dels Estats Units cv:АПШ штачĕсем cs:Státy USA cy:Taleithiau'r Unol Daleithiau da:USA's delstater de:Bundesstaat der Vereinigten Staaten el:Πολιτείες των ΗΠΑ es:Estado de los Estados Unidos de América eo:Usona ŝtato eu:Ameriketako Estatu Batuetako estatu fa:ایالت آمریکا fr:États des États-Unis fy:Amerikaanske steaten ga:Stáit Mheiriceá gl:Estados dos Estados Unidos de América ko:미국의 주 haw:Nā mokuʻāina o ʻAmelika Hui io:Stati di Usa id:Daftar negara bagian di Amerika Serikat ie:Federativ States de USA is:Fylki Bandaríkjanna it:Stato federato degli Stati Uniti d'America he:מדינות ארצות הברית kn:ಅಮೇರಿಕ ಸಂಯುಕ್ತ ಸಂಸ್ಥಾನದ ರಾಜ್ಯಗಳು pam:U.S. state krc:АБШ-ны административ бёлюнюую ka:აშშ-ის ადმინისტრაციული დაყოფა ku:Eyaletên DYE'yê la:Civitatum Foederatarum civitas lv:ASV administratīvais iedalījums lb:Bundesstaate vun den USA lt:JAV valstijos jbo:mergu'e vipygu'e hu:Az Amerikai Egyesült Államok államai és azok fővárosai mk:Сојузни држави во САД mr:अमेरिकेची राज्ये ms:Negeri di Amerika Syarikat nl:Staten van de Verenigde Staten ja:アメリカ合衆国の州 no:Amerikas forente staters delstater oc:Estats dels Estats Units pl:Podział terytorialny Stanów Zjednoczonych pt:Estados dos Estados Unidos ro:Stat al Statelor Unite ale Americii ru:Административное деление США se:Amerihká ovttastuvvan stáhtaid oassestáhtat stq:Buundesstoat fon do Fereende Stoaten sq:Shtetet Federale të Amerikës simple:List of U.S. states sk:Štát USA sl:Zvezna država Združenih držav Amerike sr:Савезне државе САД sh:Savezne države SAD fi:Yhdysvaltain osavaltiot sv:Lista över USA:s delstater och territorier tl:Estado ng Estados Unidos ta:ஐக்கிய அமெரிக்காவின் அரசியல் பிரிவுகள் tt:АКШ административ бүленеше th:รัฐ (สหรัฐอเมริกา) tg:Иёлатҳои ИМА tr:ABD'nin eyaletleri uk:Список штатів США ur:امریکہ کی ریاستیں vi:Tiểu bang Hoa Kỳ wuu:美国个州 yi:יו. עס. שטאט yo:Àwọn Ìpínlẹ̀ Orílẹ̀-èdè Amẹ́ríkà bat-smg:JAV valstėjės zh:美国州份

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