| A U.S. state is any one of the 50 states which have membership of the federation known as the United States of America (USA or
U.S.). The separate state governments and the U.S. federal government share sovereignty, in that an American citizen is a citizen both of the federal entity and of their state of
residence.
The United States Constitution allocates
power between the two levels of government in general terms; the general idea is that by ratifying the Constitution, each state
has transferred certain aspects of its sovereign powers to the federal government while retaining the remainder for itself. The
tasks of education, health, transportation, and other infrastructure are generally the responsibility of the states.
Over time, the Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The
general tendency has been toward centralization, with the federal government playing a much larger role than it once did.
Map
List of states
The states, with their US postal abbreviations,
Associated Press abbreviations, and capitals, are:
For a complete list of non-state dependent areas and other territory under control of the U.S., see United States dependent areas.
History
At the time of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, the 13 colonies became 13
independently sovereign states. Upon the adoption of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, the states became a single sovereign political entity as defined by
international law, empowered to levy war and to conduct international relations, albeit with a very loosely structured and
inefficient central government. After the failure of the union under the Articles of Confederation, the 13 states joined the modern union via ratification of the
Constitution, beginning in 1789.
The U.S. Congress has the power to
admit new states to the Union.
The Constitution is silent on the issue of the secession of a state from the
United States, but the Articles of Confederation
stated that "the union shall be perpetual," and the Declaration of Independence already clarifies the circumstances that permit legitimate
secession, limiting that justification to overtly tyrannical government. Also, the U.S. judicial system, in the case of
Texas v. White, established that states do not have the right to
secede, at least under normal circumstances.
Various facts about the states
- The name "New York" can refer to any one of three geographical levels: a state,
a city in that state, or a county (coterminous with the borough of Manhattan) in that city.
- The state of Washington is the only state named after a U.S. President (or after a person born within the area now comprising the U.S., for that
matter).
- The official name of Rhode Island is "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations"
- States are free to organize their judicial systems differently from the federal judiciary, as long as due process is protected. See state supreme court for more information. For example, most lawsuits in the state of New York are filed
in the Supreme Court, and then appealed to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. The highest court in New York is the
Court of Appeals.
- One state at the time of joining the United States had the right to
divide itself into up to five separate states. The treaty of annexation by which the Republic of Texas joined the United States in 1845 included this
provision; the state of Texas arguably retains that right by virtue of the treaty.
- State names speak to the circumstances of their creation. (See also List of U.S. state name etymologies.)
- Southern states on the Atlantic coast originated as British
colonies named after British monarchs: Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland. Some northeastern states, also former British colonies, take their names from places in Great Britain: New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New
York.
- Many states' names are those of Native American tribes or are
from Native American languages: Connecticut, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin,
the Dakotas, Mississippi,
Texas and more; half the state-names have such origins, not counting Hawaii.
- Because they are on territories previously controlled by Spain or Mexico, many states in the southeast and southwest have Spanish names. They include New Mexico, California, Colorado, Florida, and Nevada.
Grouping of the states in regions
States may be grouped in regions; there are endless variations and possible groupings, as most states are not defined by
obvious geographic or cultural borders. For further discussion of regions of the U.S., see the list of regions of the United
States.
External links
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