Commonwealth (U.S. state)
Term used in U.S. state names / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Commonwealth (U.S. state)?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
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]
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.