Short Version -- This is a summary of the important issues covered in this section of the U.S. Constitution.
- A new state cannot be formed by joining or dividing states without the consent of Congress and the state legislature(s).
- Congress can admit new states to the Union.
- Congress disposes of and regulates US. territory and property.
Long Version -- This is the text of the Actual U.S. Constitution.
New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states 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 Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular state.