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===Constitutions===
The government of each state is structured in accordance with its individual constitution, all of which are written constitutions. Many of these documents are more detailed and more
Early on in American history, four state governments differentiated themselves from the others in their first constitutions by choosing to self-identify as [[Commonwealth (U.S. state)|Commonwealth]]s rather than as [[state (polity)|states]]: [[Virginia]], in 1776;<ref name=Hornbook1994>{{cite book| url=http://www.lva.virginia.gov/faq/va.asp#six | editor1-last=Salmon| editor1-first=Emily J.| editor2-last=Campbell| editor2-first=Edward D. C. Jr.| title=The Hornbook of Virginia History| page=88| year=1994| edition=4th| publisher=Virginia Office of Graphic Communications| isbn=978-0-88490-177-8| location=Richmond, Virginia| access-date=March 10, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304104300/http://www.lva.virginia.gov/faq/va.asp#six| archive-date=March 4, 2016| url-status=live| df=mdy-all}}</ref> [[Pennsylvania]], in 1777; [[Massachusetts]], in 1780; and [[Kentucky]], in 1792. Consequently, while these four are states like the other states, each is formally a commonwealth because the term is contained in its constitution.<ref>{{cite web |date=2016 |title=Why is Massachusetts a Commonwealth? |url=http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/legal-and-legislative-resources/why-is-massachusetts-a-commonwealth.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315111108/http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/legal-and-legislative-resources/why-is-massachusetts-a-commonwealth.html |archive-date=March 15, 2016 |access-date=March 10, 2016 |website=Mass.gov |publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The term, ''commonwealth'', which refers to ''a state in which the supreme power is vested in the people'', was first used in [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]] during the [[Interregnum (England)|Interregnum]], the 1649–60 period between the reigns of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] and [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] during which parliament's [[Oliver Cromwell]] as [[Lord Protector]] established a [[Republicanism|republican]] government known as the [[Commonwealth of England]]. Virginia became a royal colony again in 1660, and the word was dropped from the full title; it went unused until reintroduced in 1776.<ref name=Hornbook1994/>
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