This was common rhetoric for politicians at the time who were aiming to express the ideals of a democratic state, but the term has never had an effect on the legal relationship of the state - or rather, the commonwealth - to the federal government. This framing of the state as a commonwealth derives from the language of 17th-century thinkers like Thomas Hobbes and John Locke and refers to the goal of creating a political community for the common good.

form themselves into a free, sovereign, and independent body politic, or state.' However, this term does not affect laws or life in these states today, nor did it when they were first created either.Īccording to the Massachusetts State Government, the term 'Commonwealth' was incorporated into their constitution in 1780 and was used to express the ideal that 'the people. There are four US states whose legal names include the term Commonwealth: Kentucky, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.

Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Pennsylvania State Capitol is seen from State Street in Harrisburg.

What states are commonwealth states