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"Commonwealth" is a nomenclature used by four of the constituent states of the United States of America in their official, full state names. These states are Kentucky,〔Third Constitution of Kentucky (1850), Article 2, Section 1 ''ff.'' Other portions of the same Constitution refer to the "State of Kentucky".〕 Massachusetts,〔Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Preamble.〕 Pennsylvania,〔Constitution of Pennsylvania, Preamble.〕 and Virginia. The four were among the original 15 states to join the Union. This designation, which has no legal meaning, emphasizes that they have a "government based on the common consent of the people"〔''See'' "Commonwealth", ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', Sixth Edition, 2001-07.〕 as opposed to one legitimized through their earlier royal colony status that was derived from the monarch of Great Britain. The word ''commonwealth'' in this context refers to the common "weal", or welfare, of the public〔''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', Fourth Edition, 2000.〕 and is derived from a loose translation of the Latin term ''res publica'' (''cf.'' the 17th-century Commonwealth of England). The same term is also used by the U.S. Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, which are not states where it has a distinct legal meaning. The use of the term derives from the use of English common law in colonial America.〔Paul Reinsch. English Common Law in the Early American colonies. Ph.D. thesis. Un. of Wisconsin. 1898.〕〔William E. Nelson. The Common Law in Colonial America. Vol. I. Oxford University Press. 2008.〕 Some vestiges of the influence of common law can still be found in some legal concepts and principles in the Commonwealths, particularly in Virginia with its independent cities, which have their origin in the old English shire system, which was a part of how early Virginia was organized. Besides the four aforementioned states, other states may also, on occasion, use the term "commonwealth" to refer to themselves. The State of Vermont, for instance, uses the term "Commonwealth" three times in its constitution, interchangeably with the term "State",〔The (Constitution of the State of Vermont ), Chapter II, §§ 1, 8, and 71.〕 while Delaware calls itself a "Commonwealth" in its 1776 constitution.〔Constitution of Delaware (1776), Art. 23.〕 == Commonwealth of Kentucky == On September 28, 1786, the residents of Kentucky County began petitioning the Commonwealth of Virginia legislature for statehood. They wished the County to be recognized as a "free and independent state, to be known by the name of the ''Commonwealth'' of Kentucky." On June 1, 1792, Kentucky County officially became a state. As in Virginia, the official title of the elected local prosecutor in each of Kentucky's political subdivisions is the "Commonwealth's Attorney," as opposed to State's Attorney in other States or the more standard District Attorney. Kentucky is the only state outside of the first 13 that uses "Commonwealth" in its name (although at the time of independence it was a part of the Commonwealth of Virginia). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Commonwealth (U.S. state)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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