U.S. Constitution · Article IV, Section 3

New States and Federal Territory

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Live in the VFA record

Cited in 5 SI Solutions, 109 grades, 3 Think Tank ideas and 1 SI Senate measure this month.

209 public items cite this provision or its parts · 118 in October 2026 (last month: 2)

Week of 2026-08-03: 1Week of 2026-08-10: 1Week of 2026-08-17: 1Week of 2026-08-24: 0Week of 2026-08-31: 2Week of 2026-09-07: 0Week of 2026-09-14: 1Week of 2026-09-21: 0Week of 2026-09-28: 0Week of 2026-10-05: 84Week of 2026-10-12: 34Week of 2026-10-19: 0

Citations per week, last 12 weeks

The text

  1. Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 · Admissions Clause

    New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

  2. Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 · Property Clause; Territory Clause 207 cites

    The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

National Archives transcription (public domain; original spelling and capitalization). archives.gov

In the founders’ words

  • “This is a power of very great importance, and required by considerations similar to those which show the propriety of the former. The proviso annexed is proper in itself, and was probably rendered absolutely necessary by jealousies and questions concerning the Western territory sufficiently known to the public.” James Madison, The Federalist No. 43 (1788-01-23)
  • “The Legislature shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States: and nothing in this Constitution contained shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims either of the United States or of any particular State” Journal of the Federal Convention, Records of the Federal Convention: the Territory Clause (Journal, August 30, 1787) (1787-08-30)
  • “As the general government possesses the right to acquire territory, either by conquest, or by treaty, it would seem to follow, as an inevitable consequence, that it possesses the power to govern, what it has so acquired. The territory does not, when so acquired, become entitled to self-government, and it is not subject to the jurisdiction of any state. It must, consequently, be under the dominion and jurisdiction of the Union, or it would be without any government at all.” Joseph Story, Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, sections 1317-22 (1833-01-01)

Public-domain primary sources, quoted word for word and checked against the linked text.

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SI Solutions (17)

grades (109)

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roll-call votes (79)

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Cite this page

Values for America Constitution Explorer, https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution (text: National Archives transcription, public domain), Article IV, Section 3, https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution/article-4/section-3

Data: this provision as JSON.