Territory
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Territory. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
in American history, a term applied to certain sections of the national domain having an organized government but not admitted to the Union. The affairs of a territory are administered by a governor, by judges, a marshal, and other officers appointed by the president with the approval of the Senate. Local affairs, including territorial revenue, are managed by the territorial legislature, quite as in a state. A territory is entitled to send a delegate to Congress who has a voice in the consideration of territorial matters but no vote. Territories are formed by special act of Congress. Whenever a territory has sufficient population to entitle it to national representation, Congress may admit it to the Union, provided always that political questions do not present too great an obstacle. The party in power is very reluctant to admit a territory to statehood if the new state is likely to send a delegation to Congress of an opposite political faith. This difficulty has been gotten around in the past by admitting the territories in pairs. With the exception of the original thirteen states, nearly all of the states have passed through the territorial stage. Since the admission of Arizona and New Mexico into the sisterhood of states in 1910, Alaska and Hawaii are the only two organized territories of the United States .
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a term applied in the United States to an area similar to a State of the Union, but not having the independent position of one. The unorganized Territories are under the direct control of Congress. Each organized Territory has a governor, appointed by the President for four years, and ratified by the Senate. The Legislature, officially known as the Legislative Assembly, is composed of a council and a house of representatives, chosen every two years by the people. A delegate to Congress is elected for the same term. He has the right of debate, but not a vote in the House. Territorial legislation is subject to Congressional control. Territorial courts are provided for, the judges of which are appointed by the President for four years, and confirmed by the Senate, and over which the Supreme Court of the United States has appellate jurisdiction. Territories are usually admitted as States on attaining a sufficient population. Territories are now administered according to their special requirements, especially in the case of those of recent acquisition, viz. the Panama Canal Zone (1904) and the Virgin Islands (1917).
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 note that "Alaska and Hawaii are the only two organized territories" describes a system that has since closed: Alaska became a state on January 3, 1959, and Hawaii on August 21, 1959, and no territory has been admitted since. Collier's 1921 list also dates quickly — the Philippines became independent in 1946, and the Panama Canal Zone it names as a 1904 acquisition was returned to Panamanian control under the 1977 treaties, the transfer completing in 1999. What remains are five inhabited unincorporated territories — Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands — whose residents still elect non-voting delegates or a resident commissioner to the House, much as described, though Puerto Rico's governor has been popularly elected rather than presidentially appointed since 1948. The frank admission in Aiton's account that statehood turned on party advantage, with territories "admitted in pairs," still reads as a shrewd description of the politics surrounding Puerto Rico and District of Columbia statehood today.
Written for this edition, 2026.