State-political sense; pol jur

When most Americans hear the words “State” and “United States”, they are instinctively thinking about these two terms in their exclusively geographical sense. They are completely unaware that there is ANOTHER sense in which these terms can be used. The other sense is the POLITICAL sense as described below by the U.S. Supreme Court:

[T]he term state most frequently expresses the combined idea . . . of people, territory, and government.  A state, in the ordinary sense of the Constitution, is a political community of free citizens, occupying a territory of defined boundaries, and organized under a government sanctioned and limited by a written constitution, and established by the consent of the governed. . . . [T]he principal sense of the word seems to be that primary one to which we have adverted, of a people or political community . . . .

[Texas v. White, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 700, 721 (1868);
SOURCE: https://ftsig.org/texas-v-white-74-u-s-700-1869/]

The principal or default sense of the term “State” used in all civil statutes is therefore the POLITICAL sense rather than the GEOGRAPHICAL sense. In that sense, it includes PEOPLE, TERRITORY, and GOVERNMENT. That sense is depicted below:

The political sense of the word “State” is important mainly within the context of establishing POLITICAL status, which is equivalent to nationality and being a political citizen*.