As an ignorant outsider I don't see why they need so many states. They don't need two Dakotas, Wyoming has about 15 people who live there, and the midwest can pretty much be condensed into two states.
Texas, Arizona and New Mexico are pretty much the same thing - so they're now one State called Big Texas.
Louisiana is just swamps so it can be a big dock for boats coming in to Big Texas.
Mississippi and Alabama look like a Rorschach drawing of my father drunkenly beating me up when I was a kid.
Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas all have the same last letter so they don't count.
Maryland has barely any Mary's living in it so it's fake news.
I could look at a map for a million years and still not remember where Missouri is. Or care.