[DL] Territories vs. States

[<markus.finster@chello.at>]

Hi there,

reading Lone Stars, I stumbled across a headline that said: California Territory. Ok, so I thought that the US consider California a state, the CS consider it a territory. Ok so far.

But what is the difference between the two? I remember the Eastwood Western Hang 'em High where the judge says something about him being the highest court in the territory... does that mean that are only basic legal authorities?

What were the requirements for a territory to achieve statehood, anyway? What are/were the benefits?

Those questions might seem stupid, but I'm from Europe - we never had such things as territories ;-)

Thank you,
Markus