Do you remember learning the names of all 50 U.S. states? The lesson probably took place in elementary school. We opened our geography books, turned to the chalkboard, projector, or Smart Board, depending on when you attended these grade levels, and saw a blank map with lines dividing America into states.
Some of us went up to the board one by one to fill in a state; others received a blank map at our desk and listed them one by one or listened to a song that helped us learn the states in alphabetical order.
Later, we learned where these states were and how and when they were added to the outline.Â
You don’t have to know where every state is on this map; you just have to know the names of the states, which makes it a bit easier. Can you name all 50 U.S. states on a blank map?
How many states could you name? Did you name them quickly, or did it take a while to recall all 50? Whether you were on top of your game or a little rusty, send this quiz to the geography buffs in your life to crown a state-naming champion!
THE STATES IN ORDER OF STATEHOOD
Before there were states, there were the 13 colonies: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
According to History, Virginia was the first, with settlers arriving in Jamestown in 1607.
On July 4, 1776, Americans declared independence from British rule to establish themselves as a sovereign nation and transition from colonies to states. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, formally acknowledged the colonies’ independence. Soon after, the statehood process began, and Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee joined the Union before the 1800s.
After the Louisiana Purchase (1803), the Midwest and Southern regions (along with Maine) began to fill the ever-evolving map, followed by California, Oregon, and Nevada in the mid-1800s. By the time the year 1900 was printed on the calendar, the United States had 45 states. Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and Hawaii joined by 1959, completing the map of the United States!
It took 172 years, from the time Delaware, the first state to ratify the Constitution, was admitted to the Union in 1787, to complete the map of the United States and forge America into the nation it is today.Â
In addition to its states, the United States has 16 territories, only five of which are inhabited: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to EBSCO.
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