Territorial Clause
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The Territorial Clause refers to Article IV, Section 3, paragraph 2 of United States Constitution:
The Congress shall have Powers to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States (...)
The interpretation of this clause gives the United States Congress the final power over every territory of the United States. However, the interpretation of the word territory is rather controversial.
One of the best examples of the meaning of the territorial clause is the case of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico, an island-country, was ceded to the United States in 1898, becoming a territory of the United States. Therefore, Congress had the ultimate power over the island and effectively organized its governments in the first half of the twentieth-century. However, the question was whether the whole Constitution applied to the territories called Insular areas by Congress.
In a series of opinions by the Supreme Court of the United States, referred to as the Insular Cases, the court ruled that territories belonged to, but were not part of the United States. Therefore, under the Territorial clause Congress had the power to determine which parts of the Constitution applied to the territories.
The meaning of the territorial clause continues to be a major dividing aspect of Puerto Ricans in the debate over their political status.
