Blog

South Carolina celebrates its constitutional birthday on May 23, 1788, when it became the eighth state to ratify the United States Constitution. That date marks an important commitment to the American Union. It does not mark the beginning of the state's people, communities, or government. The U.S. Senate's South Carolina timeline identifies the anniversary precisely. The larger story reaches from Native villages and European coastal outposts to the American Revolution, plantation agriculture, th …

Louisiana became America’s eighteenth state on April 30, 1812. Its birthday belongs to a much longer story: Native homelands, French and Spanish colonial rule, the Louisiana Purchase, and the work of making a distinctive society part of the American republic. The state’s later history includes river commerce, slavery and emancipation, military service, remarkable music, industrial ingenuity, and repeated struggles to protect communities from water. U.S. Senate admission timeline. The …

Maine became the 23rd state on March 15, 1820, but its history reaches far beyond that birthday. Wabanaki homelands, fishing settlements, colonial conflicts and a long relationship with Massachusetts all came before admission. Afterward, Mainers helped preserve the Union, build America’s ships, expand constitutional participation and develop industries tied to the woods, water and ingenuity of their communities. The Maine House’s historical overview confirms the statehood date and th …

Oklahoma became the 46th state on November 16, 1907. President Theodore Roosevelt's proclamation joined Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory in a new state within the American Union. That birthday celebrates a major step toward representative self-government, but it is one chapter in a much longer story. The National Archives' statehood documents preserve the legislation and proclamation behind the date. Oklahoma's history reaches from ancient trading centers and Native nations to land claims …

North Carolina: independence, invention and a flag with two dates North Carolina ratified the United States Constitution on November 21, 1789, becoming the twelfth state to do so. Its story stretches from coastal sounds and barrier islands through the Piedmont to the southern Appalachian mountains. Within those landscapes are histories of Indigenous nations, colonial settlement, the struggle for independence, industrial work, civil rights and scientific invention. The state flag gives readers an …