Unowned / Federal land was offered to settlers through the Homestead Act of 1862. The act provided that a settler could claim 160 acres of public land, and those who lived on the land for five years, and who improved the land during that time would actually be given ownership of the land. One of the Indian Appropriations Acts (the one in 1889), tried to make the land claiming equal by saying that anyone who claimed land before a certain time would not be able to homestead on that land. This became known as the "sooner clause," so basically "sooners" were seen as cheaters and thieves. Later, the negative connotation of the word changed, and perhaps because it was an old pioneerish type word, people started thinking that sooners were cool in a historical, "my roots go back this far" type of way. In 1908 the University of Oklahoma named their football team the "Sooners" and Oklahoma is now known as "The Sooner State."
California is the most populous state in the US.
Connecticut is the third smallest state in the United States
The number of US representatives per state is determined by the population of that state in relation to the total population of all the states in the US. This is why there is a census ordered to take place every 10 years in the Constitution. There are a total of 435US representatives no matter what!
The US state that does not have a straight line in any part of its border is Hawaii.
Oklahoma, according to http://www.netstate.com/states/intro/ok_intro.htm
The Sooners are from Oklahoma.
The US Civil War intervened.
Why could the entire US also be called a state?
Alabama
Why could the entire US also be called a state?
A state, because it is a state, is inside the US. There are two states that are non-contiguous.
New York is called the Empire State. not the US.
North Dakota
The State of Utah was formed on January 4, 1896. It would have become a state sooner but the polygamy laws of the Mormons violated the US Constitution.
The US state of South Dakota has a town called Tea.
There is a state in the USA called Illinois. It is located in the Midwest and has the 5th highest population of all the US states. It is also the 25th largest state.