March  UTC      TFD An academic forum of scholars rewrote their papers for academic publication coauthoredited by Sanford Levinson and Bartholomew Sparrow Sparrow the political scientist lead noted historical context can inform the earlier mistaken view in the field of political science that the federal republic was solely the states without territories The US has always been more than states Correcting errors of narrowscope in the fields was the point of constitutional historians and political scientists talking to one another and the book  Territories can be a part of a federal republic They are incorporated prior to statehood by congressional legacy of the Northwest Territory The modern US territories all enjoy more privileges than the last four territories admitted to the Union You admit Arizona New Mexico Alaska and Hawaii were all incorporated into the US federal republic before statehood but you still misunderstand Sparrows direct quote cited and linked copied and pasted