from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
DEPENDENCY. A territory distinct from the country in which the supreme
sovereign, power resides, but belonging rightfully to it, and subject to the
laws and regulations which the sovereign may think proper to prescribe. It
differs from a colony, because it is not settled by the citizens of the
sovereign or mother state; and from possession, because it is held by other
title than that of mere conquest: for example, Malta was considered a
dependency of Great Britain in the year 1813. 3 Wash. C. C. R. 286. Vide act
of congress, March 1, 1809, commonly called the non-importation law.