Commonwealth (United States)

Commonwealth is a designation used by four of the 50 states of the United States in their full official state names: the Commonwealth of Kentucky, (Kentucky was originally part of the land grant of the Colony of Virginia), Commonwealth of Massachusetts,Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Each was, prior to 1776, a British colony, or parts thereof, and share a strong influence of English common law in some of their laws and institutions.

The term "Commonwealth" does not describe or provide for any specific political status or legal relationship when used by a state. 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" as opposed to one legitimated through their earlier colonial status that was derived from the British crown. It refers to the common "weal", or welfare, of the public and is derived from a loose translation of the Latin term res publica (cf. the 17th-century Commonwealth of England).

Besides the four aforementioned states, other states may also, on occasion, use the term "commonwealth" to refer to themselves. Vermont, for instance, uses the term "commonwealth" three times in its constitution, interchangeably with the term "state". Also, while Delaware was primarily referred to as a "State" in its 1776 constitution, the term "Commonwealth" was also used in one article within it.

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