Oregon Statehood
Oregon entered the Union as the Pacific frontier was becoming more formally integrated into the national system through migration, trade, and western territorial governance.
How This State Entered The Union
Statehood is where constitutional structure meets regional history: the point where a place entered the Union as an equal state.
Admission To The Union
Oregon became the thirty-third state on February 14, 1859, bringing another Pacific-facing territory into equal state membership.
Path To Statehood
Its path ran through territorial administration, migration along the Oregon Trail, and the growing importance of Pacific geography to the American project.
Why It Matters
Oregon matters because it shows how the constitutional Union moved all the way to the Pacific through institutions as well as migration and settlement.
Read Next
Go back to the state page, then return to the larger constitutional story that made equal state membership possible.
Larger Context
Federalism and the founding era give the admission story its larger constitutional frame.