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Admission to the Union
Admission to the Union is provided by the Admissions Clause of the United States Constitution in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1, which authorizes the United States Congress to admit new states into the Union beyond the thirteen states that already existed when the Constitution came into effect. The Constitution went into effect on June 21, 1788, in the nine states that had ratified it, and the U.S. federal government began operations under it on March 4, 1789, when it was in effect in 11 out of the 13 states. Since then, 37 states have been admitted into the Union. Each new state has been admitted on an equal footing with those already in existence.
Of the 37 states admitted to the Union by Congress, all but six have been established within existing U.S. organized incorporated territories. A state that was so created might encompass all or part of a territory. When the people of a territory or a region have grown to a sufficient population and have made their desire for statehood known to the federal government, Congress in most cases has passed an enabling act, authorizing the people of that territory or region to frame a proposed state constitution as a step toward admission to the Union. The use of an enabling act has been a common historic practice, but several states were admitted to the Union without one.
In many instances, an enabling act would detail the mechanism by which the territory would be admitted as a state after the ratification of their constitution and the election of state officers. Although the use of such an act is a traditional historic practice, several territories have drafted constitutions for submission to Congress absent an enabling act but were subsequently admitted. The broad outline for the process was established by the Land Ordinance of 1784 and the 1787 Northwest Ordinance, both of which predate the U.S. Constitution.
The Admission to the Union Clause forbids the creation of new states from parts of existing states without the consent of all of the affected states and that of Congress. The primary intent of the caveat was to give the four Eastern States that still had western land claims (Connecticut, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia) a veto over whether their western counties could become states. The clause has since served the same function each time that a proposal to partition an existing state or states has arisen.
Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1:
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State 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.
Between 1781 and 1789, the United States was governed by a unicameral Congress, the Congress of the Confederation, which operated under authority granted to it by the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution. The 11th Article authorized Congress to admit new states to the Union provided nine states consented. Under the Articles, each state cast one vote on each proposed measure in Congress.
During this period, the Confederation Congress enacted two ordinances governing the admission of new states into the Union. The first such ordinance was the Land Ordinance of 1784, enacted April 23, 1784. Thomas Jefferson was its principal author. The ordinance called for the land (recently confirmed as part of the United States by the Treaty of Paris) west of the Appalachian Mountains, north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River to eventually be divided into ten states. Once a given area reached 20,000 inhabitants, it could call a constitutional convention and form a provisional government. Then, upon enacting a state constitution which affirmed that the new state would forever be part of the Confederation, it would be admitted on an equal footing with all other states, based on a majority vote in Congress. Stipulations for new state dictated that it would be subject to the Articles of Confederation and acts of Congress; would be subject to payment for federal debts; would not tax federal properties within the state border or tax non-residents at a rate higher than residents; and would have a republican form of government. Jefferson's original draft of the ordinance gave names to the proposed states and contained a provision that "After the year 1800 there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of them."
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Admission to the Union
Admission to the Union is provided by the Admissions Clause of the United States Constitution in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1, which authorizes the United States Congress to admit new states into the Union beyond the thirteen states that already existed when the Constitution came into effect. The Constitution went into effect on June 21, 1788, in the nine states that had ratified it, and the U.S. federal government began operations under it on March 4, 1789, when it was in effect in 11 out of the 13 states. Since then, 37 states have been admitted into the Union. Each new state has been admitted on an equal footing with those already in existence.
Of the 37 states admitted to the Union by Congress, all but six have been established within existing U.S. organized incorporated territories. A state that was so created might encompass all or part of a territory. When the people of a territory or a region have grown to a sufficient population and have made their desire for statehood known to the federal government, Congress in most cases has passed an enabling act, authorizing the people of that territory or region to frame a proposed state constitution as a step toward admission to the Union. The use of an enabling act has been a common historic practice, but several states were admitted to the Union without one.
In many instances, an enabling act would detail the mechanism by which the territory would be admitted as a state after the ratification of their constitution and the election of state officers. Although the use of such an act is a traditional historic practice, several territories have drafted constitutions for submission to Congress absent an enabling act but were subsequently admitted. The broad outline for the process was established by the Land Ordinance of 1784 and the 1787 Northwest Ordinance, both of which predate the U.S. Constitution.
The Admission to the Union Clause forbids the creation of new states from parts of existing states without the consent of all of the affected states and that of Congress. The primary intent of the caveat was to give the four Eastern States that still had western land claims (Connecticut, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia) a veto over whether their western counties could become states. The clause has since served the same function each time that a proposal to partition an existing state or states has arisen.
Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1:
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State 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.
Between 1781 and 1789, the United States was governed by a unicameral Congress, the Congress of the Confederation, which operated under authority granted to it by the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution. The 11th Article authorized Congress to admit new states to the Union provided nine states consented. Under the Articles, each state cast one vote on each proposed measure in Congress.
During this period, the Confederation Congress enacted two ordinances governing the admission of new states into the Union. The first such ordinance was the Land Ordinance of 1784, enacted April 23, 1784. Thomas Jefferson was its principal author. The ordinance called for the land (recently confirmed as part of the United States by the Treaty of Paris) west of the Appalachian Mountains, north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River to eventually be divided into ten states. Once a given area reached 20,000 inhabitants, it could call a constitutional convention and form a provisional government. Then, upon enacting a state constitution which affirmed that the new state would forever be part of the Confederation, it would be admitted on an equal footing with all other states, based on a majority vote in Congress. Stipulations for new state dictated that it would be subject to the Articles of Confederation and acts of Congress; would be subject to payment for federal debts; would not tax federal properties within the state border or tax non-residents at a rate higher than residents; and would have a republican form of government. Jefferson's original draft of the ordinance gave names to the proposed states and contained a provision that "After the year 1800 there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of them."