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In the history of the United States, an organized territory is a territory for which the United States Congress has enacted an Organic Act to formally set forth its system of government. Such territories can be incorporated or not, but only non-incorporated territories have existed since the Territory of Hawaii was admitted as a U.S. state in 1959.

Contents 1 Form of Government 2 Incorporated organized territories 3 Non-incorporated organized territories 4 See also 5 External link

The provisions of an Organic Act typically include the establishment of a Bill of Rights for the territory, as well as the framework of a tripartite government. Such a territory is said to be organized. Historically, an organized territory differed from a state in that although the organic act allowed for limited self-government, a territory had no constitution and ultimate authority over the territory was held not by the territorial government but by the United States Congress. Some contemporary organized territories have constitutions, but such constitutions are distinct from state constitutions in that they do not qualify the territory for becoming a state of the union.

See also: Organized incorporated territories of the United States

The first organized territory in the United States was the Northwest Territory, organized in 1787 by the passage of the Northwest Ordinance, which is the prototype for subsequent organic acts. In the subsequent century and a half, 29 other territories were organized at one time or another. Historically, the organization of a territory by the passage of an organic act was typically a prelude to statehood. All of these were incorporated territories, meaning that they were fully part of the United States, though that distinction did not arise until the first non-incorporated territories were gained following the Spanish-American War in 1898.

In the current lexicon of the United States political insular areas, a "commonwealth" is considered a special case of an organized territory. At present, there are two—Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. Neither of these, however, is an incorporated territory.

Additionally, Guam and the United States Virgin Islands are organized territories, but they are neither incorporated nor considered commonwealths. On the other hand, American Samoa is formally considered an unorganized territory, though it is self-governing under a 1967 constitution.

• Historic regions of the United States
• Unorganized territory
• Incorporated territory
• Enabling act (United States)
• Hawaiian Organic Act

• Department of the Interior Definitions of Insular Area Political Organizations