Where Can’t New States Be Formed Under the U.S. Constitution?

---

Table of Contents#

1. Constitutional Basis for New State Formation
2. Two Explicit Locations Where No New State Can Be Formed
3. Historical Examples of Prohibited New State Attempts
4. Common Misconceptions About New State Formation
5. Frequently Asked Questions
6. References

---

1. Constitutional Basis for New State Formation#

The rules for admitting new states are outlined in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, also called the New States Clause:

"New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress."

The clause sets a default rule that Congress has the authority to admit new states, but includes two hard prohibitions tied to state sovereignty. Without meeting the consent requirements laid out, new states cannot be formed in the locations outlined below.

---

2. Two Explicit Locations Where No New State Can Be Formed#

There are only two scenarios where the Constitution explicitly bars the creation of a new state, unless specific consent requirements are met:

2.1 Within the jurisdiction of an existing U.S. state, without that state’s legislative consent#

No new state can be carved out of land that is already part of an existing U.S. state, unless the state’s legislature votes to approve the split. For example, a proposal to split California into separate northern and southern states would first require a majority vote in the California State Legislature, followed by approval from the U.S. Congress. If the state legislature rejects the split, no new state can be formed from its territory, regardless of public support for the proposal in the region seeking statehood.

2.2 From the merger of two or more states (or parts of multiple states), without consent of all affected state legislatures#

No new state can be created by combining full states or portions of multiple existing states, unless every state whose territory is included in the proposed new state approves the change via its legislature, plus Congress. For example, a proposed state of Delmarva, which would cover the entire Delmarva Peninsula from parts of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, would require separate approval from the Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia state legislatures before it could be considered by Congress. If even one of the three states rejects the proposal, the new state cannot be formed.

Notably, there is no constitutional bar to forming new states from federal territories (including unincorporated territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, or the U.S. Virgin Islands) that are not part of any existing U.S. state.

---

3. Historical Examples of Prohibited New State Attempts#

The consent requirements have blocked dozens of proposed new states over U.S. history:

• State of Franklin (1784-1788): Formed by settlers in western North Carolina (modern-day eastern Tennessee) after North Carolina briefly ceded the land to the federal government. When North Carolina reversed its cession and withdrew consent for the new state, Congress refused to admit Franklin, and the territory was reabsorbed into North Carolina before later becoming part of Tennessee in 1796.
• State of Jefferson (1941-present): A long-running proposal to form a new state from rural southern Oregon and northern California. Neither the Oregon nor California state legislatures have ever voted to approve the split, so the proposal has never advanced to Congress for consideration.
• State of Superior (1858-present): A proposal to form a new state from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and parts of northern Wisconsin, with roots dating back to an 1858 convention in Ontonagon, Michigan. Both the Michigan and Wisconsin legislatures have repeatedly rejected the proposal, so it remains prohibited under the Constitution.

It is worth noting that four states have been successfully formed from existing state territory, only after receiving required consent: Vermont (from New York, 1791), Kentucky (from Virginia, 1792), Maine (from Massachusetts, 1820), and West Virginia (from Virginia, 1863, with consent from the Union-recognized Restored Government of Virginia during the Civil War).

---

4. Common Misconceptions About New State Formation#

---

5. Frequently Asked Questions#

Q: How many new states have been formed from existing state territory?#

A: Four: Vermont (from New York, 1791), Kentucky (from Virginia, 1792), Maine (from Massachusetts, 1820), and West Virginia (from Virginia, 1863). All four received explicit consent from the state legislatures of the states they were carved from.

Q: Can a new state be formed from a U.S. territory without any additional consent?#

A: Yes. Most of the 37 states added after the original 13 were formed from federal territory and only required congressional approval to be admitted. The exceptions are the four states formed from existing state territory (Vermont, Kentucky, Maine, and West Virginia), which required consent from the parent state, and Texas, which was an independent republic before its admission.

Q: Can voters in a region of an existing state force a split to form a new state?#

A: No. Even if a majority of voters in the region seeking statehood support the split, the state’s full legislature must approve the split before it can move forward.

---

6. References#

1. U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 (New States Clause)
2. Congressional Research Service. (2021). Admission of New States to the Union: Historical Background and Contemporary Issues
3. U.S. National Park Service. (2022). The State of Franklin: America’s Lost State
4. West Virginia Archives and History. (2019). The Formation of West Virginia, 1861-1863
5. U.S. House of Representatives. (2022). History of State Admissions to the Union