The provisions of an organic act typically include the establishment of a Bill of Rights for the territory, as well as the framework of a tripartite government. Such a territory was said to be organized.

The organization of a territory by the passage of an organic act was typically a prelude to statehood. In the current lexicon of the United States political insular areas, a "commonwealth" (of which there are two: Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands) is considered a special case of an organized territory.

See also

• Unorganized territory
• Incorporated territory