S. The Constitution in the Territories

In this seminar we will study the constitutional law of U.S. territorial expansion, empire, and colonial governance, with a focus on the current territories: Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.

Today, over 3 million U.S. citizens (or, in the case of American Samoa, non-citizen U.S. nationals) live in the U.S. territories. Although subject to U.S. sovereignty and federal law, they have no voting representation in the federal government, even as Congress has plenary power to govern them under the Territory Clause of the Constitution. The application of federal constitutional rights, limits, and norms in the U.S. territories has always been contested, and remains so today. Moreover, their constitutional status and future is uncertain: self-determination remains an unfulfilled promise in the U.S. territories.

We will examine the constitutional history and law of U.S.-territorial relations from the Founding to the present, discussing episodes such as the Louisiana Purchase, the antebellum debates over Congress’ power to regulate slavery in the territories, the so-called turn to “imperialism” in 1898, the adoption of a constitution by Puerto Rico in 1952, and the rejection of birthright U.S. citizenship by American Samoa’s elected leaders today. We will explore a variety of constitutional questions raised by U.S. colonial governance in the territories, such as the applicability of constitutional rights in the territories and the debate over their political status and future.