Term: territory
Definition: A provisional government organization employed until a region's population had grown large enough to permit statehood. Wisconsin passed successively through the jurisdiction of the original Northwest Territory (1788-1800), the Indiana Territory (1800-1809), the Illinois Territory (1809-1818), the Michigan Territory (1818-1836), and the Wisconsin Territory (1836-1848). A detailed discussion about Wisconsin Territory can be found at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-014/
[Source: Cultural Resource Management in Wisconsin (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1986)]
