Which states were not organized as territories first?A few U.S. states outside of the original 13 have been admitted that were never organized territories of the federal government. The most notable are Vermont, an unrecognized, independent republic until its admission in 1791; Kentucky, a part of Virginia until its admission in 1792; Maine, a part of Massachusetts until its admission in 1820 following the Missouri Compromise, an agreement that regulated slavery in the Western territories; Texas, a recognized independent republic until its admission in 1845; California, created as a state out of the unorganized territory of the Mexican Cession in 1850 without ever having been a separate organized territory; and West Virginia, created from areas of Virginia that rejoined the Union in 1863, after the 1861 secession of Virginia during the Civil War era. |
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