2007-02-23 15:25:15 · 7 answers · asked by Joseph M 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Geography
There are four commonwealths in the United States: Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky.
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.
2007-02-23 15:31:48 · answer #1 · answered by UNBAKED.PEGGA 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What Des means by semantics is that it's just words and there's no difference. Whoever said that was technically correct but possibly trying to be annoying. "Commonwealth" is an old English word meaning a community founded for the "common weal", meaning for the common good. Whoever wrote the Massachusetts constitution just preferred it. Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania are the other three states that are described as commonwealths in their state constitutions. Notice that they are all in the east of the US and are some of the oldest states - it was just a more popular word back then. The word "commonwealth" has been used for various purposes down the years. Australia's official name is the Commonwealth of Australia, Dominica and the Bahamas are the same, and even England was officially called a Commonwealth during our (I'm English) disastrous experiment with being a republic 1649-60. That really was a mess as nobody actually bothered to work out a proper constitution and it all fell to bits when the Lord Protector (equivalent of President), Oliver Cromwell, died. In 1660, the son of the previous king was invited back as the new king, probably because "it couldn't be any worse!" At least England knew how it was supposed to work with a King and Parliament. Google the English Civil War to find the background to all this. Finally, there is the Commonwealth of Nations, formerly the British Commonwealth, which is basically a club for countries that used to be in the British Empire. It has no power at all but it's there for countries that share the same values and want to be in it. Plus Queen Elizabeth II is very keen on it for some reason. Massachusetts is most certainly a state with its own star on the flag. The fact that it says "Commonwealth of Massachusetts" in the state constitution is neither here nor there.
2016-05-24 04:37:50 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A state has it's own constitution and all the rights granted to them by the constitution. A commonwealth on the other hand, such as Puerto Rico, is another way of of calling them territories only without sounding imperialistic (In my opinion anyway.) They have most rights but they do not pay taxes nor get to vote in presidential elections. They do however get to travel back and forth without the use of a passaport and are considered citizens of the U.S.
2007-02-23 15:30:33 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A state is independent, while a commonwealth is under dominion of another independent.
2007-02-25 16:27:52 · answer #4 · answered by michael 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I live in a commonwealth, the CNMI, and they basically get to govern themselves with little Federal government intervention.
They do have to have a US passport to travel. They are US citizens.
2007-02-23 15:32:22 · answer #5 · answered by TE 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the Queen and the question of Ownership
2007-02-23 15:33:25 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT!!!!!
2007-02-23 15:27:19 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋