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110-649: Indian Territory later came to refer to an unorganized territory whose general borders were initially set by the Nonintercourse Act of 1834, and was the successor to the remainder of the Missouri Territory after Missouri received statehood. The borders of Indian Territory were reduced in size as various Organic Acts were passed by Congress to create organized territories of the United States . The 1906 Oklahoma Enabling Act created

220-711: A state even after the region was assigned to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1783) ending the American Revolutionary War , but abandoned their efforts in 1814 after losing military control of the region during the War of 1812 . In the present-day United States, it consisted of all the territory north of Florida and New Orleans that was east of the Mississippi River and west of

330-762: A GDP of $ 104.989 billion in 2019, to American Samoa, which has a GDP of $ 636 million in 2018. In 2018, Puerto Rico exported about $ 18 billion in goods, with the Netherlands as the largest destination. Guam's GDP shrank by 0.3% in 2018, the GDP of the Northern Mariana Islands shrank by 19.6% in 2018, Puerto Rico's GDP grew by 1.18% in 2019, and the U.S. Virgin Islands' GDP grew by 1.5% in 2018. In 2017, American Samoa's GDP shrank by 5.8%, but then grew by 2.2% in 2018. American Samoa has

440-520: A State within which their reservation may be established, and the State gives them no protection." White settlers continued to flood into Indian country. As the population increased, the homesteaders could petition Congress for creation of a territory. This would initiate an Organic Act , which established a three-part territorial government. The governor and judiciary were appointed by the President of

550-578: A U.S. court in Puerto Rico: The United States District Court is not a true United States court established under article   3 of the Constitution to administer the judicial power of the United States   ... It is created   ... by the sovereign congressional faculty, granted under article 4, 3, of that instrument, of making all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory belonging to

660-461: A U.S. territory) sets Puerto Rico apart judicially from the other unincorporated territories, and U.S. district judge Gustavo Gelpí has expressed the opinion that Puerto Rico is no longer unincorporated: Indian Reserve (1763) " Indian Reserve " is a historical term for the largely uncolonized land in North America that was claimed by France , ceded to Great Britain through

770-490: A federal crime to commit murder, manslaughter, rape, assault with intent to kill, arson, burglary, or larceny within any Territory of the United States. The Supreme Court affirmed the action in 1886 in United States v. Kagama , which affirmed that the U.S. government has plenary power over Native American tribes within its borders using the rationalization that "The power of the general government over these remnants of

880-594: A federal territorial court, and so federal matters in American Samoa are sent to either the District court of Hawaii or the District court of the District of Columbia . American Samoa is the only permanently inhabited region of the United States with no federal court. While the U.S. mainland is majority non-Hispanic White , this is not the case for the U.S. territories. In 2010, American Samoa's population

990-878: A formal government until after the American Civil War . After the Civil War, the Southern Treaty Commission re-wrote treaties with tribes that sided with the Confederacy , reducing the territory of the Five Civilized Tribes and providing land to resettle Plains Indians and tribes of the Midwestern United States . These re-written treaties included provisions for a territorial legislature with proportional representation from various tribes. In time,

1100-600: A race once powerful ... is necessary to their protection as well as to the safety of those among whom they dwell". While the federal government of the United States had previously recognized the Indian Tribes as semi-independent, "it has the right and authority, instead of controlling them by treaties, to govern them by acts of Congress, they being within the geographical limit of the United States ;... The Indians [Native Americans] owe no allegiance to

1210-584: A result, these territories are often considered colonies of the United States. All modern inhabited territories under the control of the federal government can be considered as part of the "United States" for purposes of law as defined in specific legislation. However, the judicial term "unincorporated" was coined to legitimize the late-19th-century territorial acquisitions without citizenship and their administration without constitutional protections temporarily until Congress made other provisions. The case law allowed Congress to impose discriminatory tax regimes with

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1320-695: A single state. This resulted in passage of the Oklahoma Enabling Act , which President Roosevelt signed June 16, 1906. empowered the people residing in Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory to elect delegates to a state constitutional convention and subsequently to be admitted to the union as a single state. Citizens then joined to seek admission of a single state to the Union. With Oklahoma statehood in November 1907, Indian Territory

1430-471: A survey that established the western border of Arkansas Territory 45 miles west of Ft. Smith. But this was part of the negotiated lands of Lovely's Purchase where the Cherokee , Choctaw, Creek and other tribes had been settling, and these indian nations objected strongly. In 1828 a new survey redefined the western Arkansas border just west of Ft. Smith. After these redefinitions, the "Indian zone" would cover

1540-697: Is an alliance of the Ojibwe , Odawa , and Potawatomi tribes. In the Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien in 1829, the tribes of the Council of Three Fires ceded to the United States their lands in Illinois , Michigan , and Wisconsin . The 1833 Treaty of Chicago forced the members of the Council of Three Fires to move first to present-day Iowa , then Kansas and Nebraska and ultimately to Oklahoma . The Illinois Potawatomi moved to present-day Nebraska and

1650-633: Is disputed by Haiti , Wake Island is disputed by the Marshall Islands , Swains Island (a part of American Samoa ) is disputed by Tokelau , and Bajo Nuevo Bank and Serranilla Bank are both administered by Colombia, whose claim is disputed by the U.S. and Jamaica . The following two territories are claimed by multiple countries (including the United States) and are not included in ISO 3166-2:UM . However, they are sometimes grouped with

1760-695: The Caribbean Sea and eleven in the Pacific Ocean . Five territories ( American Samoa , Guam , the Northern Mariana Islands , Puerto Rico , and the U.S. Virgin Islands ) are permanently inhabited, unincorporated territories; the other nine are small islands, atolls, and reefs with no native (or permanent) population. Of the nine, only one is classified as an incorporated territory ( Palmyra Atoll ). Two additional territories ( Bajo Nuevo Bank and Serranilla Bank ) are claimed by

1870-491: The Congress . American territories are under American sovereignty and may be treated as part of the U.S. proper in some ways and not others (i.e., territories belong to, but are not considered part of the U.S.). Unincorporated territories in particular are not considered to be integral parts of the U.S., and the U.S. Constitution applies only partially in those territories. The U.S. administers three territories in

1980-790: The Eastern Continental Divide in the Appalachian Mountains that formerly comprised the eastern half of Louisiana (New France) . In modern Canada, it consisted of all the land immediately north of the Great Lakes but south of Rupert's Land belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company , as well as a buffer between the Province of Quebec and Rupert's Land stretching from Lake Nipissing to Newfoundland . The Royal Proclamation of 1763 organized on paper much of

2090-759: The Great Lakes region , organized following the American Revolutionary War to resist the expansion of the United States into the Northwest Territory . Members of the confederacy were ultimately removed to the present-day Oklahoma, including the Shawnee , Delaware , also called Lenape , Miami , and Kickapoo . The area of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma was used to resettle the Iowa tribe , Sac and Fox , Absentee Shawnee , Potawatomi , and Kickapoo tribes. The Council of Three Fires

2200-756: The Great Plains , subjected to extended periods of drought and high winds, and the Ozark Plateau is to the east in a humid subtropical climate zone. Tribes indigenous to the present day state of Oklahoma include both agrarian and hunter-gatherer tribes. The arrival of horses with the Spanish in the 16th century ushered in horse culture -era, when tribes could adopt a nomadic lifestyle and follow abundant bison herds. The Southern Plains villagers , an archaeological culture that flourished from 800 to 1500 AD, lived in semi-sedentary villages throughout

2310-734: The Native American tribes . The proclamation limited the settlement of Europeans to lands east of the Appalachian Mountains . The territory remained active until the Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolutionary War , and the land was ceded to the United States. The Indian Reserve was slowly reduced in size via treaties with the American colonists, and after the British defeat in the Revolutionary War,

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2420-742: The Northern Mariana Islands in the North Pacific Ocean , and American Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean. American Samoa is in the Southern Hemisphere , while the other four are in the Northern Hemisphere . In 2020, their combined population was about 3.62 million, over 90% of which is accounted for by Puerto Rico alone. People born in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and

2530-618: The Pacific Ocean while Navassa Island is in the Caribbean Sea . The additional claimed territories of Bajo Nuevo Bank and Serranilla Bank are also located in the Caribbean Sea. Palmyra Atoll (formally known as the United States Territory of Palmyra Island) is the only incorporated territory, a status it has maintained since Hawaii became a state in 1959. All are uninhabited except for Midway Atoll, whose approximately 40 inhabitants (as of 2004) were employees of

2640-720: The Piankashaw , Kaskaskia , and Wea tribes . Under stipulations of the Omnibus Treaty of 1867, these confederated tribes and the Miami tribe left Kansas for Indian Territory on lands purchased from the Quapaw . Territories of the United States#Formerly unorganized territories Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of

2750-991: The Senate . Additionally, the Cherokee Nation has delegate-elect Kimberly Teehee , who has not been seated by Congress. Every four years, U.S. political parties nominate presidential candidates at conventions which include delegates from the territories. U.S. citizens living in the territories can vote for presidential candidates in these primary elections but not in the general election. The territorial capitals are Pago Pago (American Samoa), Hagåtña (Guam), Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands), San Juan (Puerto Rico) and Charlotte Amalie (U.S. Virgin Islands). Their governors are Lemanu Peleti Mauga ( American Samoa ), Lou Leon Guerrero ( Guam ), Ralph Torres ( Northern Mariana Islands ), Pedro Pierluisi ( Puerto Rico ) and Albert Bryan ( U.S. Virgin Islands ). Among

2860-634: The South were the most prominent tribes displaced by the policy, a relocation that came to be known as the Trail of Tears during the Choctaw removals starting in 1831. The trail ended in what is now Arkansas and Oklahoma, where there were already many Indians living in the territory, as well as whites and escaped slaves. Other tribes, such as the Delaware , Cheyenne , and Apache were also forced to relocate to

2970-515: The State of Oklahoma . Additionally, the Department of Alaska was unorganized from its acquisition in 1867 from Russia until organized as the District of Alaska in 1884; it was organized as Alaska Territory in 1912. Hawaii was also unorganized from the time of its annexation by the U.S. in 1898 until organized as Hawaii Territory in 1900. Regions that have been admitted as states under

3080-735: The Treaty of Paris (1763) at the end of the Seven Years' War —also known as the French and Indian War —and set aside for the First Nations in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 . The British government had contemplated establishing an Indian barrier state in a portion of the reserve west of the Appalachian Mountains , bounded by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and the Great Lakes . British officials aspired to establish such

3190-412: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and their services provider; Palmyra Atoll, whose population varies from four to 20 Nature Conservancy and Fish and Wildlife staff and researchers; and Wake Island, which has a population of about 100 military personnel and civilian employees. The two-letter abbreviation for the islands collectively is "UM". The status of several islands is disputed. Navassa Island

3300-453: The U.S. House of Representatives . Although they cannot vote on the passage of legislation, they can introduce legislation, have floor privileges to address the house, be members of and vote in committees, are assigned offices and staff funding, and may nominate constituents from their territories to the Army , Naval , Air Force and Merchant Marine academies. As of the 118th Congress ,

3410-599: The United States Constitution in addition to the original thirteen were, most often, prior to admission, territories or parts of territories of this kind. As the United States grew, the most populous parts of the organized territory would achieve statehood. Some territories existed only a short time before becoming states, while others remained territories for decades. The shortest-lived was Alabama Territory at two years, while New Mexico Territory and Hawaii Territory both lasted more than 50 years. Of

Indian Territory - Misplaced Pages Continue

3520-663: The Washita River and South Canadian River in Oklahoma. Member tribes of the Caddo Confederacy lived in the eastern part of Indian Territory and are ancestors of the Caddo Nation. The Caddo people speak a Caddoan language and is a confederation of several tribes who traditionally inhabited much of what is now East Texas , North Louisiana , and portions of southern Arkansas , and Oklahoma . The tribe

3630-509: The lowest per capita income in the United States—it has a per capita income comparable to that of Botswana . In 2010, American Samoa's per capita income was $ 6,311. As of 2010, the Manu'a District in American Samoa had a per capita income of $ 5,441, the lowest of any county or county-equivalent in the United States. In 2018, Puerto Rico had a median household income of $ 20,166 (lower than

3740-450: The 18th century, prior to Indian Removal by the U.S. federal government, the Kiowa , Apache , and Comanche people entered into Indian Territory from the west, and the Quapaw and Osage entered from the east. During Indian Removal of the 19th century, additional tribes received their land either by treaty via land grant from the federal government of the United States or they purchased

3850-404: The 2010s, the U.S. territories (overall) lost population. The combined population of the five inhabited territories was 4,100,594 in 2010, and 3,569,284 in 2020. The U.S. territories have high religiosity rates —American Samoa has the highest religiosity rate in the United States (99.3% religious and 98.3% Christian). The economies of the U.S. territories vary from Puerto Rico, which has

3960-404: The 50 states, 31 were once part of an organized, incorporated U.S. territory. In addition to the original 13, six subsequent states never were: Kentucky , Maine , and West Virginia were each separated from an existing state; Texas and Vermont were both sovereign states ( de facto sovereignty for Vermont, as the region was claimed by New York) when they entered the Union; and California

4070-737: The Alleghenies and south of the Ohio were ceded to the colonies by the Cherokee at the Treaty of Hard Labour and by the Six Nations at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix . However, several other aboriginal nations, particularly Shawnee and Mingo, continued to inhabit and claim their lands that had been sold to the British by other tribes. This conflict led to Dunmore's War in 1774, ended by the Treaty of Camp Charlotte where these nations agreed to accept

4180-403: The Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, under this law; most have been abandoned. It also has acquired territories since 1856 under other circumstances, such as under the Treaty of Paris (1898) which ended the Spanish–American War. The Supreme Court considered the constitutional position of these unincorporated territories in 1922 in Balzac v. People of Porto Rico , and said the following about

4290-469: The Confederacy, reducing the territory of the Five Civilized Tribes and providing land to resettle Plains Native Americans and tribes of the mid-west. General components of replacement treaties signed in 1866 include: One component of assimilation would be the distribution of property held in-common by the tribe to individual members of the tribe. The Medicine Lodge Treaty is the overall name given to three treaties signed in Medicine Lodge, Kansas between

4400-506: The Congress's plenary powers under the territorial clause of the Constitution's Article Four, section 3. The term unorganized was historically applied either to a newly acquired region not yet constituted as an organized incorporated territory (e.g. the Louisiana Purchase prior to the establishment of Orleans Territory and the District of Louisiana ), or to a region previously part of an organized incorporated territory left "unorganized" after part of it had been organized and achieved

4510-478: The Court said that the U.S. Constitution did not fully apply in unincorporated territories because they were inhabited by "alien races". The U.S. had no unincorporated territories (also known as overseas possessions or insular areas) until 1856. Congress enacted the Guano Islands Act that year, authorizing the president to take possession of unclaimed islands to mine guano . The U.S. has taken control of (and claimed rights on) many islands and atolls, especially in

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4620-454: The Five Civilized Tribes, and others who had relocated to the Oklahoma section of Indian Territory, fought primarily on the side of the Confederacy during the American Civil War in Indian territory . Brigadier General Stand Watie , a Confederate commander of the Cherokee Nation , became the last Confederate general to surrender in the American Civil War, near the community of Doaksville on June 23, 1865. The Reconstruction Treaties signed at

4730-406: The Great Plains. In 1858, the western part of the Minnesota Territory became unorganized when it was not included in the new state of Minnesota ; this area was organized in 1861 as part of the Dakota Territory . In 1890, the western half of the Indian Territory was organized as Oklahoma Territory . The eastern half remained unorganized until 1907, when it was joined with Oklahoma Territory to form

4840-420: The Indian Western Confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, and imposed the Treaty of Greenville , which ceded most of what is now Ohio, part of present-day Indiana , and the lands that include present-day Chicago and Detroit , to the United States federal government . The period after the American Revolutionary War was one of rapid western expansion. The areas occupied by Native Americans in

4950-402: The Indian Territory was reduced to what is now Oklahoma . The Organic Act of 1890 reduced Indian Territory to the lands occupied by the Five Civilized Tribes and the Tribes of the Quapaw Indian Agency (at the borders of Kansas and Missouri). The remaining western portion of the former Indian Territory became the Oklahoma Territory . The Oklahoma Organic Act applied the laws of Nebraska to

5060-408: The Indian Territory. Indian Territory was never an organized territory of the United States . In general, tribes could not sell land to non-Indians ( Johnson v. McIntosh ). Treaties with the tribes restricted entry of non-Indians into tribal areas; Indian tribes were largely self-governing, were suzerain nations, with established tribal governments and well established cultures. The region never had

5170-416: The Indian territory. The Five Civilized Tribes established tribal capitals in the following towns: These tribes founded towns such as Tulsa , Ardmore , Muskogee , which became some of the larger towns in the state. They also brought their African slaves to Oklahoma, which added to the African American population in the state. The Western Lakes Confederacy was a loose confederacy of tribes around

5280-450: The Indiana Potawatomi moved to present-day Osawatomie, Kansas , an event known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death . The group settling in Nebraska adapted to the Plains Indian culture but the group settling in Kansas remained steadfast to their woodlands culture . In 1867, part of the Kansas group negotiated the "Treaty of Washington with the Potawatomi" in which the Kansas Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation split and part of their land in Kansas

5390-553: The Northern Mariana Islands acquire U.S. citizenship by birth , and foreign nationals residing there may apply for U.S. citizenship by naturalization . People born in American Samoa acquire U.S. nationality but not U.S. citizenship by birth if they do not have a U.S. citizen parent. U.S. nationals without U.S. citizenship may hold U.S. passports and reside in any part of the United States without restriction. However, to become U.S. citizens they must apply for naturalization, like foreigners, and may only do so while residing in parts of

5500-552: The Northern Mariana Islands' four municipalities, and American Samoa's three districts and two atolls as county equivalents. The Census Bureau also counts each of the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands as county equivalents. For statistical purposes, the U.S. Census Bureau has a defined area called the "Island Areas" which consists of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (every major territory except Puerto Rico). The U.S. Census Bureau often treats Puerto Rico as its own entity or groups it with

5610-404: The Ohio River as the new boundary. Restrictions on settlement were to become a flash point in the American Revolutionary War , following the Henderson Purchase of much of Kentucky from the Cherokee in 1775. The renegade Cherokee chief Dragging Canoe did not agree to the sale, nor did the Royal Government in London, which forbade settlement in this region. As an act of revolution in defiance of

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5720-462: The Reserve was ignored by European American settlers who slowly expanded westward . At the time of the American Revolutionary War, many Native American tribes had long-standing relationships with the British, and were loyal to Great Britain , but they had a less-developed relationship with the American colonists. After the defeat of the British in the war, the Americans twice invaded the Ohio Country and were twice defeated. They finally defeated

5830-423: The Southeast section of the US through a series of treaties. The southern part of Indian Country (what eventually became the State of Oklahoma) served as the destination for the policy of Indian removal, a policy pursued intermittently by American presidents early in the 19th century, but aggressively pursued by President Andrew Jackson after the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Five Civilized Tribes in

5940-448: The U.S. Congress. According to 2012 data, territorial telecommunications and other infrastructure are generally inferior to that of the continental U.S. and Hawaii. Poverty rates are higher in the territories than in the states. Organized territories are lands under federal sovereignty (but not part of any state or the federal district ) which were given a measure of self-governance by Congress through an organic act subject to

6050-466: The U.S. Minor Outlying Islands. According to the GAO, "the United States conducts maritime law enforcement operations in and around Serranilla Bank and Bajo Nuevo [Bank] consistent with U.S. sovereignty claims." Pursuant to a series of Supreme Court rulings, Congress decides whether a territory is incorporated or unincorporated. The U.S. Constitution applies to each incorporated territory (including its local government and inhabitants) as it applies to

6160-473: The U.S. and established framework of a legal system between the Caddo and the U.S. Tribal headquarters are in Binger, Oklahoma . The Wichita and Caddo both spoke Caddoan languages , as did the Kichai people , who were also indigenous to what is now Oklahoma and ultimately became part of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes . The Wichita (and other tribes) signed a treaty of friendship with the U.S. in 1835. The tribe's headquarters are in Anadarko, Oklahoma . In

6270-473: The U.S. but administered by Colombia . Historically, territories were created to administer newly acquired land, and most eventually attained statehood . The most recent territories to become U.S. states were Alaska on January 3, 1959, and Hawaii on August 21, 1959. Politically and economically, the territories are underdeveloped. Residents of U.S. territories cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections , and they have only non-voting representation in

6380-425: The U.S. government and southern Plains Indian tribes who would ultimately reside in the western part of Indian Territory (ultimately Oklahoma Territory). The first treaty was signed October 21, 1867, with the Kiowa and Comanche tribes. The second, with the Plains Apache , was signed the same day. The third treaty was signed with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho on October 28. Another component of assimilation

6490-521: The U.S. territories and freely associated states, except for Puerto Rico. On March 3, 1849, the last day of the 30th Congress, a bill was passed to create the U.S. Department of the Interior to take charge of the internal affairs of United States territory . The Interior Department has a wide range of responsibilities (which include the regulation of territorial governments, the basic responsibilities for public lands, and other various duties). In contrast to similarly named Departments in other countries,

6600-408: The United States were called Indian country. They were distinguished from " unorganized territory " because the areas were established by treaty. In 1803, the United States agreed to purchase France 's claim to French Louisiana for a total of $ 15 million (less than 3 cents per acre). President Thomas Jefferson doubted the legality of the purchase. Robert R. Livingston , the chief negotiator of

6710-482: The United States . The American territories differ from the U.S. states and Indian reservations as they are not sovereign entities . In contrast, each state has a sovereignty separate from that of the federal government and each federally recognized Native American tribe possesses limited tribal sovereignty as a "dependent sovereign nation". Territories are classified by incorporation and whether they have an "organized" government through an organic act passed by

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6820-407: The United States Department of the Interior is not responsible for local government or for civil administration except in the cases of Indian reservations, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and island dependencies administered by the Office of Insular Affairs. The U.S. has five permanently inhabited territories: Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea , Guam and

6930-408: The United States other than American Samoa. Foreign nationals residing in American Samoa cannot apply for U.S. citizenship or U.S. nationality at all. Each territory is self-governing with three branches of government, including a locally elected governor and a territorial legislature. Each territory elects a non-voting member (a non-voting resident commissioner in the case of Puerto Rico) to

7040-403: The United States, while the legislature was elected by citizens residing in the territory. One elected representative was allowed a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives . The federal government took responsibility for territorial affairs. Later, the inhabitants of the territory could apply for admission as a full state. No such action was taken for the so-called Indian Territory, so that area

7150-457: The United States, with the intent of combining the Oklahoma and Indian territories into a single State of Oklahoma. The citizens of Indian Territory tried, in 1905, to gain admission to the union as the State of Sequoyah , but were rebuffed by Congress and an Administration which did not want two new Western states, Sequoyah and Oklahoma. Theodore Roosevelt then proposed a compromise that would join Indian Territory with Oklahoma Territory to form

7260-495: The United States. The resemblance of its jurisdiction to that of true United States courts, in offering an opportunity to nonresidents of resorting to a tribunal not subject to local influence, does not change its character as a mere territorial court. In Glidden Company v. Zdanok , the Court cited Balzac and said about courts in unincorporated territories: "Upon like considerations, Article III has been viewed as inapplicable to courts created in unincorporated territories outside

7370-471: The United States; and in the meantime they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion which they profess. This committed the U.S. government to "the ultimate, but not to the immediate, admission" of the territory as multiple states, and "postponed its incorporation into the Union to the pleasure of Congress". After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson and his successors viewed much of

7480-411: The boundaries of U.S. states, but are largely exempt from state jurisdiction. The term " Indian country " is used to signify lands under the control of Native nations, including Indian reservations, trust lands on Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Area , or, more casually, to describe anywhere large numbers of Native Americans live. Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country,

7590-406: The boundaries of the present-day U.S. state of Oklahoma , and the primary residents of the territory were members of the Five Civilized Tribes or Plains tribes that had been relocated to the western part of the territory on land leased from the Five Civilized Tribes. In 1861, the U.S. abandoned Fort Washita , leaving the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations defenseless against the Plains tribes. Later

7700-430: The continental territories. The Court also established the doctrine of territorial incorporation, in which the Constitution applies fully to incorporated territories (such as the then-territories of Alaska and Hawaii ) and partially in the unincorporated territories of Guam , Puerto Rico , and, at the time, the Philippines (which is no longer a U.S. territory). In the 1901 Supreme Court case Downes v. Bidwell ,

7810-404: The courts in the fifty states); it became an Article III court in 1966. This means that, unlike other U.S. territories, federal judges in Puerto Rico have life tenure. Federal courts in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands are Article IV territorial courts . The following is a list of federal territorial courts, plus Puerto Rico's court: American Samoa does not have

7920-556: The crown, white pioneer settlers began pouring into Kentucky in 1776, opposed by Dragging Canoe in the Cherokee–American wars , which continued until 1794. The area of the Indian Reserve in what is now the United States, after coming under firm control of the new country, was gradually settled by European Americans, and divided into territories and states, starting with the Northwest Territory . Most (but not all) Indians in

8030-489: The effect of a protective tariff upon territorial regions which were not domestic states. In 2022, the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Vaello Madero held that the territorial clause of the constitution allowed wide congressional latitude in mandating "reasonable" tax and benefit schemes in Puerto Rico and the other territories, which are different from the states, but did not address

8140-521: The end of the Civil War fundamentally changed the relationship between the tribes and the U.S. government. The Reconstruction era played out differently in Indian Territory and for Native Americans than for the rest of the country. In 1862, Congress passed a law that allowed the president, by proclamation, to cancel treaties with Indian Nations siding with the Confederacy (25 USC 72). The United States House Committee on Territories (created in 1825)

8250-444: The exemption of island residents from most federal income taxes provides a "rational basis" for their exclusion from eligibility for SSI payments. American Samoa is the only U.S. territory with its own immigration system (a system separate from the United States immigration system). American Samoa also has a communal land system in which 90% of the land is communally owned; ownership is based on Samoan ancestry. Except for Guam,

8360-465: The governments of the U.S. territories following completion of the 2022 United States elections . Instances where local and national party affiliation differs, the national affiliation is listed second. Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands have unicameral territorial legislatures. Each of the five major territories has its own local court system: Of the five major territories, only Puerto Rico has an Article III federal district court (i.e., equivalent to

8470-453: The incorporated/unincorporated distinction. In a concurrence with the court's overall ruling on the propriety of the differential tax structures, one of the justices opined that it was time to overrule the incorporation doctrine, as wrongly decided and founded in racism, the dissent agreed. The U.S. Supreme Court , in its 1901–1905 Insular Cases opinions, ruled that the Constitution extended ex proprio vigore (i.e., of its own force) to

8580-437: The inhabited territories lost population in 2020. Although the territories have higher poverty rates than the mainland U.S., they have high Human Development Indexes . Four of the five territories have another official language, in addition to English. The territories do not have administrative counties . The U.S. Census Bureau counts Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities , the U.S. Virgin Islands' three main islands, all of Guam,

8690-421: The inhabited territories, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is available only in the Northern Mariana Islands; however, in 2019 a U.S. judge ruled that the federal government's denial of SSI benefits to residents of Puerto Rico is unconstitutional. This ruling was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court , allowing for the exclusion of territories from such programs. In the decision, the court explained that

8800-496: The land receiving fee simple recorded title . Many of the tribes forcibly relocated to Indian Territory were from Southeastern United States , including the so-called Five Civilized Tribes or Cherokee , Chickasaw , Choctaw , Muscogee Creeks , and Seminole , but also the Natchez , Yuchi , Alabama , Koasati , and Caddo people . Between 1814 and 1840, the Five Civilized Tribes had gradually ceded most of their lands in

8910-621: The land west of the Mississippi River as a place to resettle the Native Americans, so that white settlers would be free to live in the lands east of the river. Indian removal became the official policy of the United States government with the passage of the 1830 Indian Removal Act , formulated by President Andrew Jackson . When Louisiana became a state in 1812, the remaining territory was renamed Missouri Territory to avoid confusion. Arkansaw Territory , which included

9020-556: The local governments and residents of a state. Incorporated territories are considered to be integral parts of the U.S., rather than possessions. In unincorporated territories, " fundamental rights apply as a matter of law, but other constitutional rights are not available", raising concerns about how citizens in these territories can influence politics in the United States . Selected constitutional provisions apply, depending on congressional acts and judicial rulings according to U.S. constitutional practice, local tradition, and law. As

9130-525: The mainland   ... and to the consular courts established by concessions from foreign countries". The judiciary determined that incorporation involves express declaration or an implication strong enough to exclude any other view, raising questions about Puerto Rico's status. In 1966, Congress made the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico an Article III district court . This (the only district court in

9240-561: The median household income of any state). Also in 2018, Comerío Municipality, Puerto Rico had a median household income of $ 12,812 (the lowest median household income of any populated county or county-equivalent in the U.S.) Guam has much higher incomes (Guam had a median household income of $ 48,274 in 2010.) The United States Minor Outlying Islands are small uninhabited islands, atolls , and reefs. Baker Island , Howland Island , Jarvis Island , Johnston Atoll , Kingman Reef , Midway Atoll , Palmyra Atoll , and Wake Island are in

9350-635: The name Oklahoma, which derives from the Choctaw phrase okla , 'people', and humma , translated as 'red'. He envisioned an all–American Indian state controlled by the tribes and overseen by the United States Superintendent of Indian Affairs . Oklahoma later became the de facto name for Oklahoma Territory , and it was officially approved in 1890, two years after that area was opened to white settlers. The Oklahoma Organic Act of 1890 created an organized Oklahoma Territory of

9460-676: The new territorial gains in three colonies in North America— East Florida , West Florida , and Quebec. The rest of the expanded British territory was left to Native Americans. The delineation of the Eastern Divide, following the Allegheny Ridge of the Appalachians, confirmed the limit to British settlement established at the 1758 Treaty of Easton , before Pontiac's War . Additionally, all European settlers in

9570-577: The organized Oklahoma Territory, and the laws of Arkansas to the still unorganized Indian Territory, since for years the federal U.S. District Court on the eastern borderline in Ft. Smith, Arkansas had criminal and civil jurisdiction over the territory. The concept of an Indian territory is the successor to the British Indian Reserve , a British American territory established by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that set aside land for use by

9680-408: The present State of Arkansas plus much of the state of Oklahoma, was created out of the southern part of Missouri Territory in 1819. During negotiations with the Choctaw in 1820 for the Treaty of Doak's Stand , Andrew Jackson ceded more of Arkansas Territory to the Choctaw than he realized, from what is now Oklahoma into Arkansas, east of Ft. Smith, Arkansas . The General Survey Act of 1824 allowed

9790-613: The present states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and part of Iowa. Before the 1871 Indian Appropriations Act , much of what was called Indian Territory was a large area in the central part of the United States whose boundaries were set by treaties between the US Government and various indigenous tribes. After 1871, the Federal Government dealt with Indian Tribes through statute; the 1871 Indian Appropriations Act also stated that "hereafter no Indian nation or tribe within

9900-569: The purchase, however, believed that the 3rd article of the treaty of the Louisiana Purchase would be acceptable to Congress . The 3rd article stated, in part: the inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated in the Union of the United States, and admitted as soon as possible, according to the principles of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of

10010-545: The requirements for statehood (e.g. a large portion of Missouri Territory became unorganized territory for several years after its southeastern section became the state of Missouri ). The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the Kansas and Nebraska Territories, bringing organized government to the region once again. The creation of Kansas and Nebraska left the Indian Territory as the only unorganized territory in

10120-536: The rights of Indians to continue their separate tribal governments, and vocally championed opening the area to white settlement while campaigning for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Some historians argued Seward's words steered many tribes, notably the Cherokee and the Choctaw into an alliance with the Confederate States. At the beginning of the Civil War , Indian Territory had been essentially reduced to

10230-670: The same year, the Confederate States of America signed a Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws . Ultimately, the Five Civilized Tribes and other tribes that had been relocated to the area, signed treaties of friendship with the Confederacy. During the Civil War, Congress gave the U.S. president the authority to, if a tribe was "in a state of actual hostility to the government of the United States... and, by proclamation, to declare all treaties with such tribe to be abrogated by such tribe"(25 USC Sec. 72). Members of

10340-496: The single state of Oklahoma by combining Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory, annexing and ending the existence of an unorganized independent Indian Territory as such, and formally incorporating the tribes and residents into the United States. Before Oklahoma statehood, Indian Territory from 1890 onward comprised the territorial holdings of the Cherokee , Choctaw , Chickasaw , Creek , Seminole , and other displaced Eastern American tribes. Indian reservations remain within

10450-497: The states and D.C. (for example, Puerto Rico has a QuickFacts page just like the states and D.C.) Puerto Rico data is collected annually in American Community Survey estimates (just like the states), but data for the other territories is collected only once every ten years. The five major inhabited territories contain the following governments and legislatures: The following is the political party status of

10560-472: The territories are represented by Aumua Amata Radewagen (R) of American Samoa, James Moylan (R) of Guam, Gregorio Sablan (D) of Northern Mariana Islands, Jenniffer González -Colón (R-PNP) of Puerto Rico and Stacey Plaskett (D) of U.S. Virgin Islands. The District of Columbia 's delegate is Eleanor Holmes Norton (D); like the district, the territories have no vote in Congress and no representation in

10670-479: The territories were: Kansas became a state in 1861, and Nebraska became a state in 1867. In 1890 the Oklahoma Organic Act created Oklahoma Territory out of the western part of Indian Territory, in anticipation of admitting both Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory as a future single State of Oklahoma. Some in federal leadership, such as Secretary of State William H. Seward did not believe in

10780-553: The territory (who were mostly French) were supposed to leave the territory or get official permission to stay. Many of the settlers moved to New Orleans and the French land on the west side of the Mississippi (particularly St. Louis ), which in turn had been ceded secretly to Spain to become Louisiana (New Spain) . However, many of the settlers remained and the British did not actively attempt to evict them. In 1768, lands west of

10890-407: The territory of the United States shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty: Provided, further, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to invalidate or impair the obligation of any treaty heretofore lawfully made and ratified with any such Indian nation or tribe". The Indian Appropriations Act also made it

11000-601: The western part of Indian Territory, where they farmed maize and hunted buffalo. They are likely ancestors of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes . The ancestors of the Wichita have lived in the eastern Great Plains from the Red River north to Nebraska for at least 2,000 years. The early Wichita people were hunters and gatherers who gradually adopted agriculture. By about 900 AD, farming villages began to appear on terraces above

11110-468: Was 92.6% Pacific Islander (including 88.9% Samoan ); Guam's population was 49.3% Pacific Islander (including 37.3% Chamorro ) and 32.2% Asian (including 26.3% Filipino ); the population of the Northern Mariana Islands was 34.9% Pacific Islander and 49.9% Asian; and the population of the U.S. Virgin Islands was 76.0% African American . In 2019, Puerto Rico's population was 98.9% Hispanic or Latino , 67.4% white, and 0.8% non-Hispanic white. Throughout

11220-523: Was effectively extinguished. However, in 2020, the United States Supreme Court prompted a review of tribal lands through its decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma . Subsequently, almost the entire eastern half of Oklahoma was found to have remained Indian country . Indian Territory marks the confluence of the Southern Plains and Southeastern Woodlands cultural regions . Its western region is part of

11330-508: Was examining the effectiveness of the policy of Indian removal, which was after the war considered to be of limited effectiveness. It was decided that a new policy of Assimilation would be implemented. To implement the new policy, the Southern Treaty Commission was created by Congress to write new treaties with the Tribes siding with the Confederacy. After the Civil War the Southern Treaty Commission re-wrote treaties with tribes that sided with

11440-428: Was homesteading. The Homestead Act of 1862 was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln . The Act gave an applicant freehold title to an area called a "homestead" – typically 160 acres (65 hectares or one-fourth section ) of undeveloped federal land . Within Indian Territory, as lands were removed from communal tribal ownership, a land patent (or first-title deed) was given to tribal members. The remaining land

11550-607: Was land in the United States reserved for the forced resettlement of Native Americans . As such, it was not a traditional territory for the tribes settled upon it. The general borders were set by the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834. The territory was located in the Central United States . While Congress passed several Organic Acts that provided a path for statehood for much of the original Indian Country , Congress never passed an Organic Act for

11660-521: Was not treated as a legal territory. The reduction of the land area of Indian Territory (or Indian Country, as defined in the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834), the successor of Missouri Territory began almost immediately after its creation with: Indian Country was reduced to the approximate boundaries of the current state of Oklahoma by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854, which created Kansas Territory and Nebraska Territory . The key boundaries of

11770-594: Was once part of the Caddoan Mississippian culture and thought to be an extension of woodland period peoples who started inhabiting the area around 200 BC. In an 1835 Treaty made at the agency-house in the Caddo Nation and state of Louisiana , the Caddo Nation sold their tribal lands to the U.S. In 1846, the Caddo, along with several other tribes, signed a treaty that made the Caddo a protectorate of

11880-597: Was part of unorganized land ceded to the United States by Mexico in 1848 at the end of the Mexican–American War . All of the five major U.S. territories are permanently inhabited and have locally elected territorial legislatures and executives and some degree of political autonomy . Four of the five are "organized", but American Samoa is technically "unorganized". All of the U.S. territories without permanent non-military populations are unorganized. The Office of Insular Affairs coordinates federal administration of

11990-550: Was sold on a first-come basis, typically by land run , with settlers also receiving a land patent type deed. For these now former Indian lands, the United States General Land Office distributed the sales funds to the various tribal entities, according to previously negotiated terms. It was in 1866 during treaty negotiations with the federal government on the use of the land, that Choctaw Nation Chief Kiliahote suggested that Indian Territory be given

12100-818: Was sold, purchasing land near present-day Shawnee, Oklahoma , they became the Citizen Potawatomi Nation . The Odawa tribe first purchased lands near Ottawa, Kansas , residing there until 1867 when they sold their lands in Kansas and purchased land in an area administered by the Quapaw Indian Agency in Ottawa County, Oklahoma , becoming the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma . The Peoria tribe , native to Southern Illinois , moved south to Missouri then and Kansas , where they joined

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