PETEROTORIAE POLICY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ae Rs Constitution does not specify in detail the poliaie:gerne.U followed by the federal government in administering Article Ee “territories. states "The Congress shall “yall* ‘needful Rules and IV, section 3 have Power to Regulations of the dispose respecting the Constitution of and make Territory or other. Property belonging to the United States... ." The courts have interpreted the territorial clause of the Constitution to permit broad congressional discretion in deciding questions of territorial status. As a result, the Congress is largely responsible for the policies under which the U.S. territories are administered. Although the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands is administered under a 1947 U.N. Trusteeship Agreement, the Congress exercises general legislative jurisdiction over this area's political future as well. Historically, U.S. territorial policy has evolved to accommodate changing national objectives. The initial thrust of the policy, which emerged against a background of rapidly expanding frontiers, emphasized statehood as the ultimate objective for the contiguous territories. The 1787 Northwest Ordinance was the nucleus of this traditional policy. The U.S. Congress, which has complete authority over the territories, established general requirements for evaluating whether a territory .was ready for statehood. Statehood, as contemplated in the Ordi-~ nance and recognized by Congress, was the common denominator which bonded traditional territorial policy. The acquisition of offshore territories at the turn of the 20th century altered traditional policy. The newly acquired insular areas, which possessed unique geographic and cultural characteristics, were valued primarily for their strategic importance. They did not fit the traditional mold of states. In a series of decisions rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court in the early 1900s, the offshore territories, except for Hawaii, were classified as unincorporated, a term distinct from previous territories destined to become states. 1787 NORTHWEST ORDINANCE: GENESIS OF TRADITIONAL TERRITORIAL POLICY The matter of U.S. American Revolution. territories first surfaced following the Upon conclusion of the War in 1783, 13 independent states were created, bound loosely through the Articles of Confederation. States which had land claims to territorial areas not included in their boundaries ceded them to the new central government. To organize and administer these territories (the current states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin), the Congress of the Confederation passed the 2000211