Commonwealth (U.S. state)
Commonwealth is a term used by four of the 50 states of the United States in their full official state names: Kentucky,[1] Massachusetts,[2] Pennsylvania,[3] and Virginia.[4] "Commonwealth" is a traditional English term used to describe a political community as having been founded for the common good, and shares some similarities with the Latin phrase "res publica" ('the public thing') from which ultimately is derived the word republic.[5]
For U.S. insular areas that designate themselves as "Commonwealths", see Commonwealth (U.S. insular area).The four states are all in the Eastern United States, and prior to the formation of the United States in 1776 were British colonial possessions, although Kentucky did not exist as an independent polity under British rule, instead being a part of colonial Virginia. As such, they share a strong influence of English common law in some of their laws and institutions.[6][7] However, the "commonwealth" appellation has no legal or political significance, and it does not make "commonwealth" states any different from other U.S. states.
The term commonwealth does not describe or provide for any specific political status or legal relationship when used by a state.[8] Those that do use it are equal to those that do not. A traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good, it is used symbolically to emphasize that these states have a "government based on the common consent of the people"[9] as opposed to the British crown. It refers to the common "wealth", or welfare, of the public[10] and is derived from a loose translation of the Latin term res publica.[a] Premodern English used the alternative term "commonwealth" in such sense in place of the now singularly standard term "republic".
Criminal charges in these four states are brought in the name of the Commonwealth.[b]
Besides the four aforementioned states, other states have also on occasion used the term "commonwealth" to refer to themselves:
Two U.S. territories are also designated as commonwealths: Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. When used in connection with areas under U.S. sovereignty that are not states, the term broadly describes an area that is self-governing under a constitution of its own adoption and whose right of self-government will not be unilaterally withdrawn by the United States Congress.[8]