U.S. state: Difference between revisions

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A U.S. state is any one of the fifty states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, with the District of Columbia form the United States of America. The separate state governments and the U.S. federal government share sovereignty, in that an "American" is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her 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 (a) transfers certain sovereign powers to the federal government, e.g., the power to create money, (b) agrees to share other powers, e.g., the power to raise a militia, and (c) exclusively retains the remainder for itself, e.g., authority to regulate the practice of law and medicine. The tasks of education, health, transportation, and other infrastructure are generally the responsibility of the states. All states transferred, shared, and kept the same powers.

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. A continuing debate involves "states' rights", how much and which powers did states give to the federal government.

Legal relationship

Legal status at end of Revolutionary War

At the time of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776, the 13 colonies became 13 independently sovereign states, which became fourteen in 1777 with the formation of the Vermont Republic; for a brief period, they were in effect legally separate nations.

Union as a single nation

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 thirteen states joined the modern union via ratification of the United States Constitution, beginning in 1789.

Relationship among the states

Under Article IV of the Constitution, which outlines the relationship between the states, the Congress has the power to admit new states to the union. The states are required to give "full faith and credit" to the acts of each other's legislatures and courts, which is generally held to include the recognition of legal contracts, marriages, criminal judgments, and — at the time — slave status. The states are guaranteed military and civil defense by the federal government, which is also required to ensure that the government of each state remains a republic.

Secession

The Constitution is silent on the issue of the secession of a state from the union. The Articles of Confederation had stated that the earlier union of the colonies "shall be perpetual", and the preamble to the Constitution states that Constitution was intended to "form a more perfect union". In 1860 and 1861, several states attempted to secede, but were brought back into the Union by force of arms during the Civil War. Subsequently, the federal judicial system, in the case of Texas v. White, established that states do not have the right to secede without the consent of the other states.

Commonwealths and states

Four of the states bear the formal title of Commonwealth: Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In these cases, this is merely a name and has no legal effect. However, the United States has non-state areas called commonwealths (Puerto Rico and the Northern Marianas) which do have a legal status different from the states.

State judicial systems

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. Most have trial level, generally called a District Court or County Court, a first-level appellate court, generally called Courts of Appeals, and a Supreme Court. Texas, however, has a Court of Criminal Appeals as the highest court for criminal cases and the Supreme Court for civil cases. Although New York follows the traditional three-level pattern, the trial court is called a Supreme Court, appeals are heard by the Supreme Court, Appellate Division and the highest court is the Court of Appeals; however, unlike Texas, these are only differences in terminology, not function.

Subdivision of Texas to form new states

The joint resolution which admitted the Republic of Texas to the Union as a state guaranteed Texas the right to divide itself up into up to 5 states. This clause may be redundant, however, as any such state would arguably require Congressional approval, just as when Maine was split off from Massachusetts; it may also be unconstitutional, as reducing the equal suffrage of the other states in the United States Senate.

In reality it is pointless--there is a saying in Texas, "Texas will never split up because no part would be willing to give up the Alamo."

Republic of Texas and California Republic

Texas and California still appear on some official seals and documents as the Republic of Texas and the California Republic, as both were briefly independent nations (although the California Republic only lasted 25 days). However, these anachronisms have no legal consequence.

Origin of states' names

State names speak to the circumstances of their creation. (See the lists of U.S. state name etymologies and U.S. county name etymologies for more detail.)

British

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 the British Isles: New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York.

Native American

Many states' names are those of Native American tribes or are from Native American languages: Kansas, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Mississippi, Texas, Utah, and others.

Spanish

Because they are on territories previously controlled by Spain or Mexico, many states in the southeast and southwest have Spanish names. They include Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, and Nevada.

French

Because it was previously a French colony, Louisiana is named after the Louis XIV (King of France at the time).

Origin unknown

The origins of the names of California, Oregon, Idaho, and Rhode Island are unknown, although various theories exist.

List of states

The states, with their U.S. postal abbreviations, traditional abbreviations, capitals and largest cities, are as follows. For a complete list of non-state dependent areas and other territory under control of the U.S., see United States dependent areas.

Postal	Traditional	State	Capital	Largest City
AL	Ala.	Alabama	Montgomery	Birmingham
AK	Alaska	Alaska	Juneau	Anchorage
AZ	Ariz.	Arizona	Phoenix	Phoenix
AR	Ark.	Arkansas	Little Rock	Little Rock
CA	Cal. or Calif.	California	Sacramento	Los Angeles
CO	Colo.	Colorado	Denver	Denver
CT	Conn.	Connecticut	Hartford	Bridgeport
DE	Del.	Delaware	Dover	Wilmington
FL	Fla.	Florida	Tallahassee	Jacksonville
GA	Ga.	Georgia	Atlanta	Atlanta
HI	Hawaii	Hawaii	Honolulu	Honolulu
ID	Idaho	Idaho	Boise	Boise
IL	Ill.	Illinois	Springfield	Chicago
IN	Ind.	Indiana	Indianapolis	Indianapolis
IA	Ia.	Iowa	Des Moines	Des Moines
KS	Kan. or Kans.	Kansas	Topeka	Wichita
KY	Ky.	Kentucky	Frankfort	Louisville
LA	La.	Louisiana	Baton Rouge	New Orleans
ME	Maine	Maine	Augusta	Portland
MD	Md.	Maryland	Annapolis	Baltimore
MA	Mass.	Massachusetts	Boston	Boston
MI	Mich.	Michigan	Lansing	Detroit
MN	Minn.	Minnesota	Saint Paul	Minneapolis
MS	Miss.	Mississippi	Jackson	Jackson
MO	Mo.	Missouri	Jefferson City	Kansas City
MT	Mont.	Montana	Helena	Billings
NE	Neb.	Nebraska	Lincoln	Omaha
NV	Nev.	Nevada	Carson City	Las Vegas
NH	N.H.	New Hampshire	Concord	Manchester
NJ	N.J.	New Jersey	Trenton	Newark
NM	N.M.	New Mexico	Santa Fe	Albuquerque
NY	N.Y.	New York	Albany	New York City
NC	N.C.	North Carolina	Raleigh	Charlotte
ND	N.D. or N.Dak.	North Dakota	Bismarck	Fargo
OH	O.	Ohio	Columbus	Columbus
OK	Okla.	Oklahoma	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma City
OR	Ore. or Oreg.	Oregon	Salem	Portland
PA	Penn. or Penna.	Pennsylvania	Harrisburg	Philadelphia
RI	R.I.	Rhode Island	Providence	Providence
SC	S.C.	South Carolina	Columbia	Columbia
SD	S.D. or S.Dak.	South Dakota	Pierre	Sioux Falls
TN	Tenn.	Tennessee	Nashville	Memphis
TX	Tex. or Texas	Texas	Austin	Houston
UT	Utah	Utah	Salt Lake City	Salt Lake City
VT	Vt.	Vermont	Montpelier	Burlington
VA	Va.	Virginia	Richmond	Virginia Beach
WA	Wash.	Washington	Olympia	Seattle
WV	W.Va.	West Virginia	Charleston	Charleston
WI	Wis. or Wisc.	Wisconsin	Madison	Milwaukee
WY	Wyo.	Wyoming	Cheyenne	Cheyenne

Trivia

Names

"Georgia" can refer to either a U.S. state or to an independent country in the Caucasus.
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.
"Washington" is a state, a city corresponding to the District of Columbia (and thus not part of any state), and a number of cities and counties in various states. See the list of places named for George Washington.
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."
Only two states have state capitals named for the state (however, such name-sharing occurs commonly with states and provinces in some other countries, where the state or province actually often takes its name from a capital city): Oklahoma, with capital Oklahoma City, and Indiana, with capital Indianapolis (which means Indiana City). Iowa City, Iowa was the first state capital of Iowa but the capital was later moved to Des Moines, Iowa.
Maine is the only state with a one-syllable name.

Geography

Colorado and Wyoming are bounded by two circles of latitude and two meridians each, i.e. they appear to be rectangles in a cylindrical map projection.
Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming are the only states whose borders are made up of only straight lines (taking meridians and circles of latitude as straight lines) and, thus, the only states whose borders completely ignore natural features.
Every state—except Hawaii, which has no land boundaries—has straight lines as at least part of its boundaries. These are usually combined with rivers (see river borders of U.S. states), ridge lines and other natural boundaries. Pennsylvania and Delaware are unique in that their common border is an arc of a circle, see The Twelve-Mile Circle.
The lower peninsula of Michigan is shaped like a mitten; Louisiana is shaped like a boot.
Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Maryland, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia have panhandles.
Alabama, Missouri, New Mexico and Mississippi have bootheels.
Alaska and Hawaii are the only states that are not physically connected to other states; Maine is the only state that borders only one other state. Missouri and Tennessee each border eight other states, the most for any state.
Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah are the only four states to share a common border, known as the "Four Corners."
Appearances given by the stereographic projection to the contrary, Minnesota is the northernmost of the forty-eight contiguous United States, as a northern spur of the state contains a portion of Lake of the Woods. At one time it was thought that Lake of the Woods contained the headwaters of the Mississippi River (now known to be at Lake Itasca).
Alaska is the northernmost state and the westernmost state. Some would argue that it is also the easternmost state, as the Aleutian island chain crosses the 180º line of longitude.
The southernmost point is in Hawaii at 18º 54' 49.27" N by 155º 40' 31.82" W, not Brownsville, Texas at 25º 50' 14.94" N by 97º 23' 40.30" W.

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.

State lists

Lists of U.S. state insignia

References

External links

Tables with areas, populations, densities and more (in order of population)
Tables with areas, populations, densities and more (alphabetical)
US Newspapers by State
Origin of State Names
Rick's Search Engine List - Web links and addresses for many state agencies, e.g., Motor Vehicles, Corporate Records, Insurance, Attorneys General
United States Postal Service

United States

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 === Relationship among the states ===
-Under Article IV of the Constitution, which outlines the relationship between the states, the [[Congress of the United States|Congress]] has the power to admit new states to the union.  The states are required to give "full faith and credit" to the acts of each other's legislatures and courts, which is generally held to include the recognition of legal contracts, marriages, criminal judgments, and - at the time - slave status.  The states are guaranteed military and civil defense by the federal government, which is also required to ensure that the government of each state remains a republic.
+Under Article IV of the Constitution, which outlines the relationship between the states, the [[Congress of the United States|Congress]] has the power to admit new states to the union.  The states are required to give "[[Full Faith and Credit Clause|full faith and credit]]" to the acts of each other's legislatures and courts, which is generally held to include the recognition of legal contracts, marriages, criminal judgments, and &mdash; at the time &mdash; slave status.  The states are guaranteed military and civil defense by the federal government, which is also required to ensure that the government of each state remains a republic.
 === Secession ===