Number of US states by year since 1776

Although the founding fathers declared American independence in 1776, and the subsequent Revolutionary War ended in 1783, the first official states were not officially established until 1787. The first states to ratify the US Constitution were Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, in December 1787, and they were joined by the remainder of the thirteen ex-British colonies by 1790. Another three states joined before the turn of the nineteenth century, and there were 45 states by 1900. The final states, Alaska and Hawaii, were admitted in 1959, almost 172 years after the first colonies became federal states.

Secession in the American Civil War

The issues of slavery and territorial expansion in the mid nineteenth century eventually led to the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 until 1865. As the US expanded westwards, a moral and economic argument developed about the legality of slavery in those states, with northern states opposed to the expansion of slavery, whereas the southern states (who were economically dependent on slavery) saw this as a stepping stone towards nationwide abolition. In 1861, eleven southern states seceded from the Union, and formed the Confederate States of America. When President Lincoln refused to relinquish federal property in the south, the Confederacy attacked, setting in motion the American Civil War. After four years, the Union emerged victorious, and the Confederate States of America was disbanded, and each individual state was readmitted to Congress gradually, between 1866 and 1870.

Other territories

Along with the fifty US states, there is one federal district (Washington D.C., the capital city), and fourteen overseas territories, five of which with a resident population (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands). In 2019, President Trump inquired about the US purchasing the territory of Greenland from Denmark, and, although Denmark's response indicated that this would be unlikely, this does suggest that the US may be open to further expansion of it's states and territories in the future.