Correct naming of USA Territories

+8 votes
449 views
Hello All! This question has been bugging me for years and I'm hoping to answer it finally and get all my managed profiles standardized.

What would be the correct way to name a USA Territory such as Indian Territory, Utah Territory etc. Does it have "USA" after it or not? We never call Puerto Rico "Puerto Rico, USA" and they are also a territory. Which leads me to believe it would just be "Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory" not "Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, USA."

A territory is neither a state nor an independent country.
in The Tree House by Emma MacBeath G2G Astronaut (1.3m points)

I recall that there have been a number of previous G2G discussions relevant to this general topic. Some that I've found in the last few minutes:

2 Answers

+6 votes
For what itʻs worth, Territory of Hawaiʻi is on the official seal. Puerto Rico shows up as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
by Kristina Adams G2G6 Pilot (436k points)

And Virginia's official name is still Commonwealth of Virginiasmiley

Isn't Massachusetts also officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts?

It would be overkill to call Puerto Rico or Massachusetts by  verbose official names like Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but it would be offensive to refer to Puerto Rico as "Puerto Rico Territory, United States."

The places with names of "Territory" in earlier U.S. history were areas that were considered to be unpopulated (Native American populations not being counted as real people crying) or sparsely populated, and that typically were not yet organized for self-governance. That "territory" designation was probably thought of as temporary, and I have the impression that the territories controlled by the U.S. were thought of as part of the United States. In contrast, Puerto Rico is a fully populated and distinct place that is essentially a U.S. colony (but not named as such).

But Virginia and Massachusetts are both states and Puerto Rico is not.

Maybe we should use United States & Commonwealths of America.

Sorry, its 4:30 a.m.
"Puerto Rico" is accurate and unambiguous.
+4 votes

From a Virginia Place Names page... for Place Names of areas now USA & Canada, see this page (from this G2G post).

Which leads to the US Historical Place Names spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19msdf4uzxBiyIwCSNUBcrHt15Qp-DXpGxBYLp3YWDO0/edit#gid=1136264887 (my computer doesn't get along with spreadsheets, so while I can search for "territory", I cannot see the entries using the term).

Hope this helps :D

by Liz Shifflett G2G6 Pilot (695k points)
When I work with locations, I always have this spreadsheet open. Thanks to whomever created it!
I just learned this spreadsheet has a Canada tab. How have I missed that all these years?!
Hi, Emma, Steven Tibbetts and Barry Sweetman created this spreadsheet.  I worked with Steven to do the Updated Canadian Provinces sheet which is the one you should use as it includes the proper dates and names for the French Acadian ownership of the Maritime Provinces.

Also of note is that the term British Colonial America is NOT used, though I see it popping up frequently.
Awesome, Cindy! I"ve been using this spreadsheet since it was created. It's an amazing tool.

Yes, I do know about British Colonial America and its variations. I just removed it from 18 USBH profiles while we did some location clean up this week. That clean up was why this question came up for me again.

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