Numerous state partition proposals have been put forward since the 1776 establishment of the United States that would partition an existing U.S. state or states so that a particular region might either join another state or create a new state. Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution, often called the New States Clause, grants to the United States Congress the authority to admit new states into the United States beyond the thirteen that existed when the Constitution went into effect (June 21, 1788, after ratification by nine of the thirteen states). It also includes a stipulation originally designed to give Eastern states that still had Western land claims, which included Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, a veto over whether their western counties could become states. The clause has served the same function since then whenever a proposal to partition an existing state or states has come before Congress. New breakaway states are permitted to join the Union only with the proper consents. Of the 37 states admitted to the Union by Congress, three were set off from an already existing state: Kentucky1792, was a part of Virginia Maine1820, was a part of Massachusetts West Virginia1863, was a part of Virginia Another state that may fit into this category is Vermont, which existed as a de facto but unrecognized sovereign state from 1777 to 1791. The region had been a subject of a territorial dispute between New York and New Hampshire during the colonial period, which royal authorities had resolved in favor of New York. As the State of New York continued to claim Vermont's territory under that ruling after independence, the Continental Congress never recognized Vermont as an independent state. In 1790, after negotiating the common boundary between the two states and Vermont agreeing to pay New York $30,000, New York relinquished its land grant claim and consented to Vermont becoming part of the Union. Vasan Kesavan and Michael Stokes Paulsen assert that "although Vermont was admitted into the Union with New York's consent, it is not at all clear that New York's consent was constitutionally necessary. While Vermont was within the territory claimed by New York, the preponderance of evidence suggests that Vermont was not within the jurisdiction of New York." The following is a list of substantive proposals, both successful and unsuccessful, put forward since the nation's founding to partition or set off a