Editing Commonwealth (section)

===Certain U.S. states and territories===
{{Main|Commonwealth (U.S. state)|Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)}}
====States====
Four [[U.S. state|states]] of the [[United States|United States of America]] officially designate themselves as "commonwealths". All four were part of [[British America|Great Britain's possessions]] along the [[East Coast of the United States|Atlantic coast of North America]] prior to the [[American Revolution]]. As such, they share a strong influence of [[common law|English common law]] in some of their laws and institutions. The four are:
* [[Kentucky]] is designated a commonwealth by the [[Kentucky Constitution]] as the "Commonwealth of Kentucky".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kentucky.gov |title=Kentucky.gov |publisher=Kentucky.gov |access-date=2013-10-11}}</ref>
* [[Massachusetts]] is a commonwealth,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mass.gov |title=Mass.Gov |publisher=Mass.Gov |date=2013-09-26 |access-date=2013-10-11}}</ref> declaring itself as such in its constitution, which states: "[T]he body politic is formed by a voluntary association of individuals: it is a social compact, by which the whole people covenants with each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common good."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/Constitution#cp00s00.htm |title=Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts |publisher=Malegislature.gov |access-date=2013-10-11}}</ref>
* [[Pennsylvania]] uses the "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" constitutionally and in its official title.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pa.gov |title=Commonwealth of Pennsylvania &#124; The Keystone State |publisher=Pa.gov |access-date=2013-10-11}}</ref>
* [[Virginia]] has been known as the "Commonwealth of Virginia" since before the [[American Revolutionary War]], and is referred to as a commonwealth in its constitution.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.virginia.gov |title=Home |publisher=Virginia.gov |access-date=2013-10-11}}</ref>

====Territories====
Two [[Territories of the United States|organized]] but [[Unincorporated territories of the United States|unincorporated]] U.S. territories are called commonwealths. The two are:
* [[Commonwealth of Puerto Rico]], since 1952
* [[Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands]], since 1978

In 2016, the [[Council of the District of Columbia|Washington, D.C. city council]] also selected "Douglass Commonwealth" as the potential name of [[Statehood movement in the District of Columbia|State of Washington, D.C.]], following the [[2016 Washington, D.C. statehood referendum|2016 statehood referendum]], at least partially in order to retain the initials "D.C." as the state's abbreviation.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://dcist.com/story/16/10/18/following-a-series-of/ |title= Council Tosses 'New Columbia,' Changes Constitution To 'The State Of Washington D.C.' |website= DCist |date= October 18, 2016 |access-date= June 26, 2020 |first= Rachel |last= Kurzius |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200629141413/https://dcist.com/story/16/10/18/following-a-series-of/ |archive-date= June 29, 2020 |url-status= live }}</ref>