Arizona Statehood
Arizona reached statehood later than many western states, reflecting how the constitutional map of the country kept changing well into the twentieth century.
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
Arizona became the forty-eighth state on February 14, 1912, completing the continental United States as the last of the lower-48 admissions.
Path To Statehood
Its route ran through territorial administration, mining, settlement, irrigation, and the politics of admitting a large southwestern territory into the Union.
Why It Matters
Arizona matters because it shows that the frontier statehood story remained active long after the founding era, with desert geography, water, and border realities shaping the final lower-48 map.
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.