Congress and American Political Development: Territorial Policy and the House Committee on Territories.

This paper takes an in-depth look at one of the major sources of congressional territorial policy, the House Committee on Territories. Using archival resources and historical records, the project will tie together significant areas of concern for the Committee on Territories dealing with national expansion and territorial management. By analyzing the decisions and actions of this committee, the committee membership, and the specific issues it chose to focus upon, from its creation in 1825 until the Spanish-American War at the end of the 19th-century, this paper will highlight various ways in which policy decisions crafted political development in the country as a whole. Issues of representation will also be addressed since the House Committee on Territories had both voting members from states and non-voting territorial delegates assigned to it throughout its history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]