[iowamomforfreedom]

Why do you get to be a commonwealth and we’re all states?

[oldvirginian]

“Why do you get to be a commonwealth and we’re all states?”

It all goes back to colonial days.
Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia were posessions of England at the time. As such most of their laws were rooted in English common law and the set themselves up to govern for “the common good” of their citizens.
Not wanting to change their way of governance Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia they retained their commonwealth status.

Kentucky was part of Virginia until it became a separate state in 1792. Kentucky kept the commonwealth status they had lived with as a part of Virginia.

[Ozymandias Ghost]

Besides VA, there are 3 other states that use the term “commonwealth:” PA, KY, and MA. The term goes back to colonial times. For practical purposes, there are no differences between U.S. states and U.S. commonwealths; they are considered equivalent.

Here’s Wikipedia’s explanation:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_(U.S._state)

[MV=PY]

Commonwealth originally meant a region governed by the people, not a monarch. England was a commonwealth from around 1649 to 1660. During the American Revolution, the colonies of Massachusetts, Virginia and Pennsylvania declared themselves commonwealths. Thereby they signaled that they were no longer governed by the British monarchy but were an independent republic. At the time, Kentucky was part of Virginia. In 1790 when it separated from Virginia, Kentucky chose to retain the commonwealth moniker.

During the Civil War, Virginia seceded from the union to become a confederate state. West Virginia seceded from Virginia and decided to join the union. At the time, West Virginia did not choose to retain the commonwealth status; instead, it became a state in the U.S.A.

https://www.diffen.com/difference/Commonwealth_vs_State#:~:text=Commonwealth%20vs.%20State.%20Four%20of%20the%2050%20states,no%20difference%20between%20a%20state%20and%20a%20commonwealth.