They were territories for a long time 

Alaska was purchased in 1867 

Hawaii was annexed in 1898 

We annexed it fair and square lol 


> 1959

Its always weird to me to think about AK and HI being so new. There are possibly be on this board who were born when USA had 48 stars on flag....



freetx

65 years have passed since the latest U.S. states achieved statehood—Alaska and Hawaii in 1959—but mapping out states by their year of statehood shows that the 19th century was when the U.S. added the most territory to the national footprint.

 shows when each American state achieved statehood. Data comes from the US Senate and individual state governments.

charts_and_numbers

> 65 years have passed since the latest U.S. states achieved statehood—Alaska and Hawaii in 1959—but mapping out states by their year of statehood shows that the 19th century was when the U.S. added the most territory to the national footprint.
> 
> This map from [USAFacts](https://usafacts.org/articles/when-was-your-state-founded/) shows when each American state achieved statehood. Data comes from the US Senate and individual state governments.
>
> ![](https://m.stacker.news/44129)
>
> **[🔗 www.visualcapitalist.com](https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/when-each-state-joined-the-usa-map/)**