Territories of the United States on stamps

Territories of the United States on stamps discusses commemorative postal issues devoted to lands that have been ceded to the nation or purchased by treaty in conjunction with both war and peace. Thirteen states have been created from colonial territories, two from independent republics, four from previous states in the Union, and an additional thirty-one from United States territories.

Many aspects of acquisition, settlement and exploration have been celebrated on postage stamps. These are represented below in issues that appeared prior to 1978 (the images of subsequent stamps remain under copyright by the United States Postal Service and may not be reproduced).

From the territory ceded by Great Britain in the Treaty of Paris 1783, five states were to emerge from the Northwest Territory, two from the Southwest Territory. States under the Articles of Confederation ceded their claims to western lands, allowing Congress to administer territories until statehood; the practice was extended under the Constitution. From the Northwest Territory came Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. From The Southwest Territory came Mississippi and Alabama.

A 3-cent stamp was issued on July 13, 1937, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Northwest Territory as defined by the Ordinance of 1787. The Territory consisted of lands north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River ceded by eastern states. The Ordinance established the Territory, banned slavery, and specified that land must be purchased from the Indians and offered for sale by the United States. It also made provision for temporary and permanent governments and eventual statehood of included regions based on population. The stamp shows a map of the Territory which is flanked by Manasseh Cutler who drafted the ordinance, and Rufus Putnam, superintendent of territorial settlement. The 150th anniversary of establishment of the Mississippi Territory was celebrated by a 3-cent stamp on April 7, 1948. The vignette shows an outline map of the region of today’s Mississippi and Alabama. The present Mississippi is shown in a darker tone. The map is divided into three sections with dates 1798, 1804, and 1812, showing the growth of the Territory. Over the map is the original seal of the Territory on which the second double "s" of Mississippi is written as a single "s." The portrait is of Winthrop Sargent, first governor of Mississippi Territory.

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