Why is Virginia a 'Commonwealth'?

[StellaBlue]

Like the British Empire? I'm confused. haha

But I am enjoying CSPAN right now! I like to hear those Confederate-style hollers delivered in joy about PROGRESS!!!!!

yeeeehaw!

[flowomo]

1. Pennsylvania too

[flowomo]

4. 4 commonwealths and here's why:

There are 4 so-called "Commonwealth States" among the 50 US states:

* Massachusetts,
* Kentucky,
* Pennsylvania and
* Virginia.

Now the question is, whether they have another status or not?
No, they don't - it's basically a historical reality and has no political or judicial consequences.

All four states must integrate themselves into the legal system and the political order of the United States - in terms of the United States they are a state under the federal US Constitution, even when they use in their own State Constitution the expression "Commonwealth", see e.g. Massachusetts.

The fact that the four commonwealth states are indeed a state and not a souvereign unit of some kind is established by their ratification of the Constitution respective the admittance into the Union. By keeping the expression 'commonwealth' in their name the four states make a symbolic reference to commonwealth units in general, the Commonwealth of England in particular, and demonstrate their belief in that kind of political unit: the English Commonwealth was the beginning of the new era after the period of Kings, Queens and kingdoms ruling the country.

http://www.magazineusa.com/lv2/politics/i_commonwealth.asp

[NoPasaran]

2. Also Massachusetts and Kentucky

[unblock]

3. and kentucky

[roguevalley]

5. tradition. Like why are there boroughs in alaska and not counties

or something. Isn't the legislature in Virginia still called the House of Burgesses or do I need to catch up. :evilgrin:

[CottonBear]

13. Don't forget parishes in LA! n/t

[dcfirefighter]

6. As well as connecticut and kentucky

it's a holdover from their formation as a government for the people and distinctly different than being a colony.

Today, it means nothing.

But the idea of a Commonwealth, or more specifically awareness of the Commons, is something all people, especially DUers should be familiar with.

[flowomo]

7. connecticut not a commonwealth

[GrumpyGreg]

8. CT is not a Commonwealth.

[StellaBlue]

10. yeah I have a basic understanding

I lived in the UK for four years and I know what Commonwealth, Commons, and commons mean there! haha

But I was just curious if they were somehow legally different from the other 'states' because of this designation. Or if it was that their counties were more independent than elsewhere, hence they are commonwealths...

[kansasblue]

9. Commonwealth vs state

Commonwealth

http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20001117.html

The difference between these commonwealths and the other 46 states is in name alone -- they elected to call themselves commonwealths, a term drawn from political theory. The About.com lawyer assured us that, legally, there is no difference between a state and these four commonwealths.





form of administration signifying government by the common consent of the people. To Locke and Hobbes and other 17th-century writers the term meant an organized political community similar to what is meant in the 20th cent. by the word state. Certain states of the United States are known as commonwealths (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky), and the federated states of Australia are known collectively as the Commonwealth of Australia.

[Jed Dilligan]

11. I think they are the same states

where you can run afoul of a constable of the township in a tavern by the turnpike and have to go before a magistrate.

[StellaBlue]

12. bwhahahahaha

[foo_bar]

14. it was originally a Puritan designation

According to the Hornbook of Virginia History, 4th ed., page 88:

A commonwealth is ‘a state in which the supreme power is vested in the people.’ The term as an official designation was first used in Virginia during the Interregnum (1649-1660), the period between the reigns of Charles I and Charles II during which parliament’s Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector established a republican government known as the Commonwealth of England. Virginia became a royal colony again in 1660, and the word commonwealth was dropped from the governor’s full title. When Virginia adopted its first constitution in 1776, the term commonwealth was reintroduced, most likely to emphasize that Virginia’s new government was based upon the sovereignty of the people united for the common good, or common weal. The designation commonwealth of Virginia has been used in official records ever since. Three states beside Virginia adopted the appellation commonwealth: Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.

http://www.lva.lib.va.us/chat/FAQ.htm