Jefferson on the Essentials of Popular Government

There are two subjects which I shall claim a right to further as long
as I have breath: the public education and the subdivision of the
counties into wards (townships). I consider the continuance of
Republican government as absolutely hanging on these two hooks.

Where every man is a sharer in the direction of his ward republic or

some of the higher ones, and feels that he is a participator in the
government of affairs, not merely at an election one day in the year,
but every day; when there shall not be a man in the State who will
not be a member of one of its councils, great or small, he will let the
hear be torn out of his body sooner than his power be wrested from
him by a Caesar or a Bonaparte.

Thomas Jefferson
(from An American Bible, edited by Alice
Hubbard, Wm. H. Wise & Co., Inc., New
York, 1946, p. 60-61)

Definitions of ward and township

ward (word)

NOUN:

1. A division of a city or town, especially an electoral district, for

administrative and representative purposes.
2. A district of some English and Scottish counties corresponding
roughly to the hundred or the wapentake.

ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, action of guarding, from Old English weard, a watching,
protection; see wer-3 in Indo-European roots
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Main Entry: 1ward

Pronunciation: \ wo!rd\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English weard & Anglo-French
warde, garde, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German warta act of
watching, Old English warian to beware of, guard, wr careful more
at guard, wary
Date: before 12th century
1 a : the action or process of guarding b : a body of guards
2 : the state of being under guard; especially : custody
3 a : the inner court of a castle or fortress b : a division (as a cell or
block) of a prison c : a division in a hospital; especially : a large room in
a hospital where a number of patients often requiring similar treatment
are accommodated
4 a : a division of a city for representative, electoral, or administrative
purposes b : a division of some English and Scottish counties
corresponding to a hundred

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ward

township (toun sh p )

NOUN:
Abbr. Twp. or Tp. or T

1. A subdivision of a county in most northeast and Midwest U.S.

states, having the status of a unit of local government with varying
governmental powers.
2. A public land surveying unit of 36 sections or 36 square miles.
3. An ancient administrative division of a large parish in England.

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/township

Main Entry: township

Pronunciation: \ tau!n- ship\
Function: noun
Date: 12th century

1 : an ancient unit of administration in England identical in area with or

a division of a parish
2 a : town 6 b : a unit of local government in some northeastern and
north central states usually having a chief administrative officer or board
c : an unorganized subdivision of the county in Maine, New Hampshire,
and Vermont d : an electoral and administrative district of the county in
the southern United States

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/township