In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are

currently 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds

governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory and
shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Due to this shared
sovereignty, Americans are citizens both of the federal republic and of the
state in which they reside.[3] State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no
government approval is required to move between states, except for persons
restricted by certain types of court orders (such as paroled convicts and
children of divorced spouses who are sharing custody).

State

Also known as:

Commonwealth
(the self-designation of four states)

Category Federated state

Location United States

Number 50

Populations Smallest: Wyoming, 579,315

Largest: California, 39,536,653[1]

Areas Smallest: Rhode Island, 1,545 square miles

(4,000 km2)
Largest: Alaska, 665,384 square miles
(1,723,340 km2)[2]

Government State government

Subdivisions County (or equivalent)

States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned

some local governmental authority but are not sovereign. County or county-
equivalent structure varies widely by state, and states may also create other
local governments. State governments are allocated power by the people (of
each respective state) through their individual constitutions. All are grounded
in republican principles, and each provides for a government, consisting of
three branches, each with separate and independent powers: executive,
legislative, and judicial.[4]

States, unlike U.S. territories, possess a number of powers and rights under the
United States Constitution. States and their residents are represented in the
United States Congress, a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and
the House of Representatives. Each state is also entitled to select a number of
electors (equal to the total number of representatives and senators from that
state) to vote in the Electoral College, the body that directly elects the
President of the United States. Additionally, each state has the opportunity to
ratify constitutional amendments, and, with the consent of Congress, two or
more states may enter into interstate compacts with one another. The police
power of each state is also recognized.

Historically, the tasks of local law enforcement, public education, public health,
regulating intrastate commerce, and local transportation and infrastructure
have generally been considered primarily state responsibilities, although all of
these now have significant federal funding and regulation as well. 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, 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 and the rights of individuals.

The Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the
Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of
states has expanded from the original 13 to 50. Each new state has been
admitted on an equal footing with the existing states.[5] Alaska and Hawaii are
the most recent states admitted, both in 1959. The Constitution is silent on the
question of whether states have the power to secede (withdraw) from the
Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White,
held that a state cannot unilaterally do so.[6][7]

States of the United States

The 50 U.S. states, in alphabetical order, along with each state's flag:
  Alabama  Montana

 Alaska  Nebraska

 Arizona  Nevada

 Arkansas  New Hampshire

 California  New Jersey

 Colorado  New Mexico

 Connecticut  New York

 Delaware  North Carolina

 Florida  North Dakota

   Georgia    Ohio

   Hawaii    Oklahoma

   Idaho    Oregon

   Illinois    Pennsylvania

   Indiana    Rhode Island

   Iowa    South Carolina

   Kansas    South Dakota

   Kentucky    Tennessee

   Louisiana    Texas

   Maine    Utah

   Maryland    Vermont

   Massachusetts    Virginia

   Michigan    Washington

   Minnesota    West Virginia

   Mississippi    Wisconsin

   Missouri    Wyoming
  

Background

The 13 original states came into existence in July 1776, a year after the start
of the American Revolutionary War, upon agreeing to the Lee Resolution[8] and
signing the United States Declaration of Independence.[9] Prior to these events
each state had been a British colony;[8] each then joined the first Union of
states between 1777 and 1781, upon ratifying the Articles of Confederation,
the first U.S. constitution.[10][11] Also during this period, the newly independent
states developed their own individual state constitutions, among the earliest
written constitutions in the world.[12] Although different in detail, these state
constitutions shared features that would be important in the American
constitutional order: they were republican in form, and separated power among
three branches, most had bicameral legislatures, and contained statements of,
or a bill of rights.[13] Later, from 1787 to 1790, each of the states also ratified a
new federal frame of government in the Constitution of the United States.[14]

Governments

As sovereign entities, each of the 50 states reserves the right to organize its
individual government in any way (within the broad parameters set by the U.S.
Constitution) deemed appropriate by its people. A state, unlike the federal
government, has un-enumerated police power, that is the right to generally
make all necessary laws for the welfare of its people.[15] As a result, while the
governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary
greatly with regard to form and substance. No two state governments are
identical.
Constitutions

The government of each state is structured in accordance with its individual

constitution. Many of these documents are more detailed and more elaborate
than their federal counterpart. The Constitution of Alabama, for example,
contains 310,296 words – more than 40 times as many as the U.S.
Constitution.[16] In practice, each state has adopted a three-branch frame of
government: executive, legislative, and judicial (even though doing so has
never been required).[16][17]

Early on in American history four state governments differentiated themselves

from the others in their first constitutions by choosing to self-identify as
commonwealths rather than as states: Virginia, in 1776;[18] Pennsylvania, in
1777; Massachusetts, in 1780; and Kentucky, in 1792. Consequently, while
these four are de facto states, each is de jure a commonwealth because the
term is contained in its constitution.[19] As a result, commonwealth is used in
all public and other state writings, actions or activities within their bounds.

The term, which refers to a state in which the supreme power is vested in the
people, was first used in Virginia during the Interregnum, the 1649–60 period
between the reigns of Charles I and Charles II during which parliament's Oliver
Cromwell as Lord Protector established a republican government known as the
Commonwealth of England. Virginia became a royal colony again in 1660, and
the word was dropped from the full title; it went unused until reintroduced in
1776.[18]

Executive

In each state, the chief executive is called the governor, who serves as both
head of state and head of government. All governors are chosen by direct
election. The governor may approve or veto bills passed by the state
legislature, as well as recommend and work for the passage of bills, usually
supported by their political party. In 44 states, governors have line item veto
power.[20] Most states have a plural executive, meaning that the governor is not
the only government official in the state responsible for its executive branch. In
these states, executive power is distributed amongst other officials,[21] elected
by the people independently of the governor—such as the lieutenant governor,
attorney general, comptroller, secretary of state, and others.

The constitutions of 19 states allow for citizens to remove and replace an

elected public official before the end of their term of office through a recall
election.[22] Each state follows its own procedures for recall elections, and sets
its own restrictions on how often, and how soon after a general election, they
may be held. In all states, the legislatures can remove state executive branch
officials, including governors, who have committed serious abuses of their
power from office. The process of doing so includes impeachment (the
bringing of specific charges), and a trial, in which legislators act as a jury.[22]

Legislative

The primary responsibilities of state legislatures are to enact state laws and
appropriate money for the administration of public policy.[20] In all states, if the
governor vetoes a bill (or a portion of one), it can still become law if the
legislature overrides the veto (repasses the bill) by a two-thirds vote in each
chamber.[20] In 49 of the 50 states the legislature consists of two chambers: a
lower house (variously called, the House of Representatives, State Assembly,
General Assembly or House of Delegates) and a smaller upper house, in all
states called, the Senate. The exception is the unicameral Nebraska
Legislature, which has only a single chamber.[23] Most states have a part-time
legislature (traditionally called a citizen legislature). Ten state legislatures are
considered full-time; these bodies are more similar to the U.S. Congress than
are the others.[24]

Members of each state's legislature are chosen by direct election. In Baker v.

Carr (1962) and Reynolds v. Sims (1964), the U.S. Supreme Court held that all
states are required to elect their legislatures in such a way as to afford each
citizen the same degree of representation (the one person, one vote standard).
In practice, most states elect legislators from single-member districts, each of
which has approximately the same population. Some states, such as Maryland
and Vermont, divide the state into single- and multi-member districts, in which
case multi-member districts must have proportionately larger populations, e.g.,
a district electing two representatives must have approximately twice the
population of a district electing just one. The voting systems used across the
nation are: first-past-the-post in single-member districts, and multiple non-
transferable vote in multi-member districts.

In 2013, there were a total of 7,383 legislators in the 50 state legislative

bodies. They earned from $0 annually (New Mexico) to $90,526 (California).
There were various per diem and mileage compensation.[25]

Judicial

States can also organize their judicial systems differently from the federal
judiciary, as long as they protect the federal constitutional right of their citizens
to procedural due process. Most have a trial level court, generally called a
District Court, Superior Court or Circuit Court, a first-level appellate court,
generally called a Court of Appeal (or Appeals), and a Supreme Court. However,
Oklahoma and Texas have separate highest courts for criminal appeals. In
New York State the trial court is called the Supreme Court; appeals are then
taken to the Supreme Court's Appellate Division, and from there to the Court of
Appeals.

State court systems provide general courts with broad jurisdiction. The
overwhelming majority of criminal and civil cases in the United States are
heard in state courts. The annual number of cases filed in state courts are
around 30,000,000 and the number of judges in state courts is about 30,000—
by comparison, federal courts see some 1,000,000 filed cases with about 1700
judges.[26]

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, a former French colony, which draws large
parts of its legal system from French civil law.

Only a few states choose to have the judges on the state's courts serve for life
terms. In most of the states the judges, including the justices of the highest
court in the state, are either elected or appointed for terms of a limited number
of years, and are usually eligible for re-election or reappointment.

States as unitary systems

All states have unitary governments, local governments are created under
state law, and ultimately, local governments within each state are subject to
the central authority of that particular state. State governments commonly
delegate some authority to local units and channel policy decisions down to
them for implementation.[27] In a few states, local units of government are
permitted a degree of home rule over various matters. The prevailing legal
theory of state preeminence over local governments, referred to as Dillon's
Rule, holds that,

A municipal corporation possesses and can exercise the following

powers and no others: First, those granted in express words;
second, those necessarily implied or necessarily incident to the
powers expressly granted; third, those absolutely essential to the
 declared objects and purposes of the corporation-not simply
convenient but indispensable; fourth, any fair doubt as to the
existence of a power is resolved by the courts against the
corporation-against the existence of the powers.[28]

Each state defines for itself what powers it will allow local governments.
Generally, four categories of power may be given to local jurisdictions:

Structural – power to choose the form of government, charter and

enact charter revisions,

Functional – power to exercise local self government in a broad or

limited manner,

Fiscal – authority to determine revenue sources, set tax rates,

borrow funds and other related financial activities,

Personnel – authority to set employment rules, remuneration

rates, employment conditions and collective bargaining.[29]

Relationships

Among states

Each state admitted to the Union by Congress since 1789 has entered it on an
equal footing with the original states in all respects.[30] With the growth of
states' rights advocacy during the antebellum period, the Supreme Court
asserted, in Lessee of Pollard v. Hagan (1845), that the Constitution mandated
admission of new states on the basis of equality.[31] With the consent of
Congress, states may enter into interstate compacts, agreements between two
or more states. Compacts are frequently used to manage a shared resource,
such as transportation infrastructure or water rights.[32]

Under Article IV of the Constitution, which outlines the relationship between

the states, each state is required to give full faith and credit to the acts of each
other's legislatures and courts, which is generally held to include the
recognition of most contracts and criminal judgments, and before 1865,
slavery status. Under the Extradition Clause, a state must extradite people
located there who have fled charges of "treason, felony, or other crimes" in
another state if the other state so demands. The principle of hot pursuit of a
presumed felon and arrest by the law officers of one state in another state are
often permitted by a state.[33]

The full faith and credit expectation does have exceptions, some legal
arrangements, such as professional licensure and marriages, may be state-
specific, and until recently states have not been found by the courts to be
required to honor such arrangements from other states.[34] Such legal acts are
nevertheless often recognized state-to-state according to the common
practice of comity. States are prohibited from discriminating against citizens
of other states with respect to their basic rights, under the Privileges and
Immunities Clause.

With the federal government

Under Article IV, each state is guaranteed a form of government that is

grounded in republican principles, such as the consent of the governed.[35] This
guarantee has long been at the fore-front of the debate about the rights of
citizens vis-à-vis the government. States are also guaranteed protection from
invasion, and, upon the application of the state legislature (or executive, if the
legislature cannot be convened), from domestic violence. This provision was
discussed during the 1967 Detroit riot, but was not invoked.

The Supremacy Clause (Article VI, Clause 2) establishes that the Constitution,
federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority,
constitute the supreme law of the land.[36] It provides that state courts are
bound by the supreme law; in case of conflict between federal and state law,
the federal law must be applied. Even state constitutions are subordinate to
federal law.[37]

States' rights are understood mainly with reference to the Tenth Amendment.
The Constitution delegates some powers to the national government, and it
forbids some powers to the states. The Tenth Amendment reserves all other
powers to the states, or to the people. Powers of the U.S Congress are
enumerated in Article I, Section 8, for example, the power to declare war.
Making treaties is one power forbidden to the states, being listed among other
such powers in Article I, Section 10.

Among the Article I enumerated powers of Congress is the power to regulate

Commerce. Since the early 20th century, the Supreme Court's interpretation of
this "Commerce Clause" has, over time, greatly expanded scope of federal
power, at the expense of powers formerly considered purely states' matters.
The Cambridge Economic History of the United States says, "On the whole,
especially after the mid-1880s, the Court construed the Commerce Clause in
favor of increased federal power."[38] In 1941, the Supreme Court in U.S. v.
Darby upheld the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, holding that Congress had
the power under the Commerce Clause to regulate employment conditions.[39]
Then, one year later, in Wickard v. Filburn, the Court expanded federal power to
regulate the economy by holding that federal authority under the commerce
clause extends to activities which may appear to be local in nature but in
reality effect the entire national economy and are therefore of national
concern.[40] For example, Congress can regulate railway traffic across state
lines, but it may also regulate rail traffic solely within a state, based on the
reality that intrastate traffic still affects interstate commerce. Through such
decisions, argues law professor David F. Forte, "the Court turned the
commerce power into the equivalent of a general regulatory power and undid
the Framers' original structure of limited and delegated powers." Subsequently,
Congress invoked the Commerce Clause to expand federal criminal legislation,
as well as for social reforms such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Only within
the past couple of decades, through decisions in cases such as those in U.S. v.
Lopez (1995) and U.S. v. Morrison (2000), has the Court tried to limit the
Commerce Clause power of Congress.[41]

Another enumerated congressional power is its taxing and spending power.[42]

An example of this is the system of federal aid for highways, which include the
Interstate Highway System. The system is mandated and largely funded by the
federal government, and also serves the interests of the states. By threatening
to withhold federal highway funds, Congress has been able to pressure state
legislatures to pass a variety of laws. An example is the nationwide legal
drinking age of 21, enacted by each state, brought about by the National
Minimum Drinking Age Act. Although some objected that this infringes on
states' rights, the Supreme Court upheld the practice as a permissible use of
the Constitution's Spending Clause in South Dakota v. Dole 483 U.S. 203
(1987).

As prescribed by Article I of the Constitution, which establishes the U.S.

Congress, each state is represented in the Senate (irrespective of population
size) by two senators, and each is guaranteed at least one representative in the
House. Both senators and representatives are chosen in direct popular
elections in the various states. (Prior to 1913, senators were elected by state
legislatures.) There are presently 100 senators, who are elected at-large to
staggered terms of six years, with one-third of them being chosen every two
years. Representatives are elected at-large or from single-member districts to
terms of two years (not staggered). The size of the House—presently 435
voting members—is set by federal statute. Seats in the House are distributed
among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated
decennial census.[43] The borders of these districts are established by the
states individually through a process called redistricting, and within each state
all districts are required to have approximately equal populations.[44]

Citizens in each state plus those in the District of Columbia indirectly elect the
president and vice president. When casting ballots in presidential elections
they are voting for presidential electors, who then, using procedures provided
in the 12th amendment, elect the president and vice president.[45] There were
538 electors for the most recent presidential election in 2016; the allocation of
electoral votes was based on the 2010 census.[46] Each state is entitled to a
number of electors equal to the total number of representatives and senators
from that state; the District of Columbia is entitled to three electors.[47]

While the Constitution does set parameters for the election of federal officials,
state law, not federal, regulates most aspects of elections in the U.S.,
including: primaries, the eligibility of voters (beyond the basic constitutional
definition), the running of each state's electoral college, as well as the running
of state and local elections. All elections—federal, state and local—are
administered by the individual states, and some voting rules and procedures
may differ among them.[48]

Article V of the Constitution accords states a key role in the process of

amending the U.S. Constitution. Amendments may be proposed either by
Congress with a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate, or by a
convention of states called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures.[49] To
become part of the Constitution, an amendment must be ratified by either—as
determined by Congress—the legislatures of three-quarters of the states or
state ratifying conventions in three-quarters of the states.[50] The vote in each
state (to either ratify or reject a proposed amendment) carries equal weight,
regardless of a state's population or length of time in the Union.

Admission into the Union

  

U.S. states by date of statehood:

   1776–1790      1791–1796
   1803–1819      1820–1837
   1845–1859      1861–1876
   1889–1896      1907–1912
   1959

The order in which the original 13 states

ratified the Constitution, then the order in
which the others were admitted to the Union

Article IV also grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the
Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of
states has expanded from the original 13 to 50. Each new state has been
admitted on an equal footing with the existing states.[31] Article IV also forbids
the creation of new states from parts of existing states without the consent of
both the affected states and Congress. This caveat was designed to give
Eastern states that still had Western land claims (including Georgia, North
Carolina, and Virginia), to have a veto over whether their western counties
could become states,[30] and has served this same function since, whenever a
proposal to partition an existing state or states in order that a region within
might either join another state or to create a new state has come before
Congress.

Most of the states admitted to the Union after the original 13 were formed
from an organized territory established and governed by Congress in accord
with its plenary power under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2.[51] The outline for
this process was established by the Northwest Ordinance (1787), which
predates the ratification of the Constitution. In some cases, an entire territory
has become a state; in others some part of a territory has.

When the people of a territory make their desire for statehood known to the
federal government, Congress may pass an enabling act authorizing the
people of that territory to organize a constitutional convention to write a state
constitution as a step towards admission to the Union. Each act details the
mechanism by which the territory will be admitted as a state following
ratification of their constitution and election of state officers. Although the use
of an enabling act is a traditional historic practice, a number of territories have
drafted constitutions for submission to Congress absent an enabling act and
were subsequently admitted. Upon acceptance of that constitution, and upon
meeting any additional Congressional stipulations, Congress has always
admitted that territory as a state.

In addition to the original 13, six subsequent states were never an organized
territory of the federal government, or part of one, before being admitted to the
Union. Three were set off from an already existing state, two entered the Union
after having been sovereign states, and one was established from unorganized
territory:

California, 1850, from land ceded to the United States by Mexico in 1848 under
the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.[52][53][54]

Kentucky, 1792, from Virginia (District of Kentucky: Fayette, Jefferson, and

Lincoln counties)[52][53][55]

Maine, 1820, from Massachusetts (District of Maine)[52][53][55]

Texas, 1845, previously the Republic of Texas[52][53][56]

Vermont, 1791, previously the Vermont Republic (also known as the New
Hampshire Grants and claimed by New York)[52][53][57]

West Virginia, 1863, from Virginia (Trans-Allegheny region counties) during the
Civil War[53][55][58]

Congress is under no obligation to admit states, even in those areas whose

population expresses a desire for statehood. Such has been the case
numerous times during the nation's history. In one instance, Mormon pioneers
in Salt Lake City sought to establish the state of Deseret in 1849. It existed for
slightly over two years and was never approved by the United States Congress.
In another, leaders of the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw,
Creek, and Seminole) in Indian Territory proposed to establish the state of
Sequoyah in 1905, as a means to retain control of their lands.[59] The proposed
constitution ultimately failed in the U.S. Congress. Instead, the Indian Territory,
along with Oklahoma Territory were both incorporated into the new state of
Oklahoma in 1907. The first instance occurred while the nation still operated
under the Articles of Confederation. The State of Franklin existed for several
years, not long after the end of the American Revolution, but was never
recognized by the Confederation Congress, which ultimately recognized North
Carolina's claim of sovereignty over the area. The territory comprising Franklin
later became part of the Southwest Territory, and ultimately the state of
Tennessee.

Additionally, the entry of several states into the Union was delayed due to
distinctive complicating factors. Among them, Michigan Territory, which
petitioned Congress for statehood in 1835, was not admitted to the Union until
1837, due to a boundary dispute with the adjoining state of Ohio. The Republic
of Texas requested annexation to the United States in 1837, but fears about
potential conflict with Mexico delayed the admission of Texas for nine
years.[60] Statehood for Kansas Territory was held up for several years (1854–
61) due to a series of internal violent conflicts involving anti-slavery and pro-
slavery factions. West Virginia's bid for statehood was also delayed over
slavery, and was settled when it agreed to adopt a gradual abolition plan.[61]

Possible new states

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico, an Unincorporated U.S. territory, refers to itself as the "

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" in the English version of its constitution, and
as "Estado Libre Asociado" (literally, Associated Free State) in the Spanish
version. As with all U.S. territories, its residents do not have full representation
in the United States Congress. Puerto Rico has limited representation in the
U.S. House of Representatives in the form of a Resident Commissioner, a
delegate with limited voting rights in the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union, but no voting rights otherwise.[62]

A non-binding referendum on statehood, independence, or a new option for an

associated territory (different from the current status) was held on November
6, 2012. Sixty one percent (61%) of voters chose the statehood option, while
one third of the ballots were submitted blank.[63][64]

On December 11, 2012, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico enacted a

concurrent resolution requesting the President and the Congress of the United
States to respond to the referendum of the people of Puerto Rico, held on
November 6, 2012, to end its current form of territorial status and to begin the
process to admit Puerto Rico as a State.[65]

Another status referendum was held on June 11, 2017, in which 97% percent
of voters chose statehood. Turnout was low, as only 23% of voters went to the
polls, with advocates of both continued territorial status and independence
urging voters to boycott it.[66]

On June 27, 2018, the H.R. 6246 Act was introduced on the U.S. House with
the purpose of respond to, and comply with, the democratic will of the United
States citizens residing in Puerto Rico as expressed in the plebiscites held on
November 6, 2012, and June 11, 2017, by setting forth the terms for the
admission of the territory of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union.[67] The act
has 37 original cosponsors between Republicans and Democrats in the U.S.
House of Representatives.[68]

Washington, D.C.

The intention of the Founding Fathers 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.
As it is not a state, the district does not have representation in the Senate and
has a non-voting delegate in the House; neither does it have a sovereign
elected government. Additionally, prior to ratification of the 23rd Amendment in
1961, district citizens did not get the right to vote in Presidential elections.

Some residents of the District support statehood of some form for that
jurisdiction – either statehood for the whole district or for the inhabited part,
with the remainder remaining under federal jurisdiction. In November 2016,
Washington, D.C. residents voted in a statehood referendum in which 86% of
voters supported statehood for Washington, D.C.[69] For statehood to be
achieved, it must be approved by Congress and signed by the President.[70]

Others

Other possible new states are Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, both of which
are unincorporated organized territories of the United States. Also, either the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands or American Samoa, an
unorganized, unincorporated territory, could seek statehood.
Secession from the Union

The Constitution is silent on the issue of whether a state can secede from the
Union. Its predecessor, the Articles of Confederation, stated that the United
States "shall be perpetual." The question of whether or not individual states
held the unilateral right to secession was a passionately debated feature of the
nations's political discourse from early in its history, and remained a difficult
and divisive topic until the American Civil War. In 1860 and 1861, 11 southern
states each declared secession from the United States, and joined together to
form the Confederate States of America (CSA). Following the defeat of
Confederate forces by Union armies in 1865, those states were brought back
into the Union during the ensuing Reconstruction Era. The federal government
never recognized the sovereignty of the CSA, nor the validity of the ordinances
of secession adopted by the seceding states.[6][71]

Following the war, the United States Supreme Court, in Texas v. White (1869),
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 Constitution, which states
that the Constitution was intended to "form a more perfect union" and speaks
of the people of the United States 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 court's 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.[6][71]

Origins of states' names

A map showing the source languages of state

names

The 50 states have taken their names from a wide variety of languages.
Twenty-four state names originate from Native American languages. Of these,
eight are from Algonquian languages, seven are from Siouan languages, three
are from Iroquoian languages, one is from Uto-Aztecan languages and five
others are from other indigenous languages. Hawaii's name is derived from the
Polynesian Hawaiian language.

Of the remaining names, 22 are from European languages: Seven from Latin
(mainly Latinized forms of English names), the rest are from English, Spanish
and French. Eleven states are named after individual people, including seven
named for royalty and one named after a President of the United States. The
origins of six state names are unknown or disputed. Several of the states that
derive their names from (corrupted) names used for Native peoples, have
retained the plural ending of "s".

Geography

Borders

The borders of the 13 original states were largely determined by colonial

charters. Their western boundaries were subsequently modified as the states
ceded their western land claims to the Federal government during the 1780s
and 1790s. Many state borders beyond those of the original 13 were set by
Congress as it created territories, divided them, and over time, created states
within them. Territorial and new state lines often followed various geographic
features (such as rivers or mountain range peaks), and were influenced by
settlement or transportation patterns. At various times, national borders with
territories formerly controlled by other countries (British North America, New
France, New Spain including Spanish Florida, and Russian America) became
institutionalized as the borders of U.S. states. In the West, relatively arbitrary
straight lines following latitude and longitude often prevail, due to the
sparseness of settlement west of the Mississippi River.

Once established, most state borders have, with few exceptions, been
generally stable. Only two states, Missouri (Platte Purchase) and Nevada, grew
appreciably after statehood. Several of the original states ceded land, over a
several year period, to the Federal government, which in turn became the
Northwest Territory, Southwest Territory, and Mississippi Territory. In 1791
Maryland and Virginia ceded land to create the District of Columbia (Virginia's
portion was returned in 1847). In 1850, Texas ceded a large swath of land to
the federal government. Additionally, Massachusetts and Virginia (on two
occasions), have lost land, in each instance to form a new state.
There have been numerous other minor adjustments to state boundaries over
the years due to improved surveys, resolution of ambiguous or disputed
boundary definitions, or minor mutually agreed boundary adjustments for
administrative convenience or other purposes.[52] Occasionally, either
Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court has had to settle state border disputes.
One notable example is the case New Jersey v. New York, in which New Jersey
won roughly 90% of Ellis Island from New York in 1998.[72]

Regional grouping

States may be grouped in regions; there are many variations and possible
groupings. Many are defined in law or regulations by the federal government.
For example, the United States Census Bureau defines four statistical regions,
with nine divisions.[73] The Census Bureau region definition is "widely used …
for data collection and analysis,"[74] and is the most commonly used
classification system.[75][76][77] Other multi-state regions are unofficial, and
defined by geography or cultural affinity rather than by state lines.

See also

Commonwealth (U.S. state)

Insular area

ISO 3166-2:US

State (polity)

Territories of the United States

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Further reading

Stein, Mark, How the States Got Their Shapes, New York : Smithsonian
Books/Collins, 2008. ISBN 978-0-06-143138-8

External links

Information about All States from UCB Libraries GovPubs

State Resource Guides, from the Library of Congress

Tables with areas, populations, densities and more (in order of population)

Tables with areas, populations, densities and more (alphabetical)

State and Territorial Governments on USA.gov

StateMaster – statistical database for U.S. states

50states.com – States and Capitals