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365 HARVARD LAW REVIEW. VOL. XII. JANUARY 25, 1899. NO. 6 THE STATUS OF OUR NEW TERRITORIES.^ WHAT extent of territory do the United States of America comprise? In order to answer this question intelligently, it is necessary to ascertain the meaning of the term "United States." First. — It is the collective name of the States which are united together by and under the Constitution of the United States; and, prior to the adoption of that Constitution, and subsequently to the Declaration of Independence, it was the collective name of the thir- teen States which made that Declaration, and which, from the time of the adoption of the Articles of Confederation to that of the adop- tion of the Constitution, were united together by and under the former. This, moreover, is the original, natural, and Hteral mean- ing of the term. Between the time of the first meeting of the Con- tinental Congress, and that of the Declaration of Independence, the term "United Colonies" came into general use,^ and, upon in- first learned of Mr. Randolph's intention to furnish an article on the same general sub- ject for the January number of this Review. While, therefore, the writer desires to acknowledge the material assistance which he has derived from Mr. Randolph's article, he entirely disclaims any intention to answer it, or to criticise it. '^ It first occurs in the Journal of the Continental Congress, under date of June 7, 1775, vol. I. (ed. of 1777), p. 114 ["Resolved, that Thursday, the 20th of July next, be observed throughout the twelve United Colonies, as a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer"]; and, from that time to the date of the Declaration of Independence, its use is very frequent. It occurs three times in the commission issued to Washington as commander-in-chief (p. 122), six times in the articles of war (pp. 133, 137, 138, 139, 140), and twice in the Declaration of the United Colonies of North America, under date of July 6, 1775, setting forth the causes and necessity of their taking up arms
 * The following article was already planned, and in part written, when the writer