Buzz
Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Massachusetts share a unique characteristic: They're the only four states in the U.S. that officially use the word 'commonwealth' in their titles. Although the term sounds prestigious, commonwealths are no different from the 46 'regular' states that make up the country.
As per Merriam-Webster, a 'commonwealth' refers to a nation, state, or political entity "founded on law and united by compact or tacit agreement of the people for the common good." Essentially, the term is not tied to any specific form of political system but can refer to any body that seeks to enhance the well-being of its citizens.
Whether a state is considered a 'commonwealth' was largely shaped by its founders' perspectives. According to the Massachusetts State Government website, the term gained popularity during the American Revolution. While creating Massachusetts’s constitution, John Adams embraced the word for its associations with anti-monarchy and democratic ideals.
"There is, however, a unique way in which English and French writers use the terms republic, commonwealth, and popular state; they refer to them as a democracy […] a single assembly, selected at regular intervals by the people," the Founding Father remarked.
His preference for 'commonwealth' over 'state' didn’t carry any significant consequences beyond a difference in terminology. The commonwealths of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Massachusetts continue to operate as states from both a political and legal standpoint. On the other hand, U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands are called commonwealths, but they don’t enjoy the same rights as the states that bear the same title.
To sum up: Understanding which U.S. states are technically commonwealths is an interesting tidbit for road trip conversations, but this distinction has no real effect on the people living there.
