The kingdom of Great Britain had been founding colonies in North America for hundreds of years, starting with Roanoke Colony in 1585. By the year 1732, the number of British colonies in North America had risen to thirteen. These colonies were entirely dependent on and ruled by Great Britain since their establishment. The Thirteen Colonies were also treated as individual provinces, therefore the citizens of each colony were raised with that notion in mind.
It wasn’t until 1754 that Benjamin Franklin popularized the concept that these separate colonies were united in their struggle with his famous Join, or Die cartoon. Throughout the War of Independence, the Colonists had to remind themselves that they were not fighting Great Britain as thirteen, individual colones, but as the single nation of the United Colonies. It is quite possible that Virginia Continental Congress delegate Patrick Henry said it best in his 1774 speech: The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American.
The Rise of the United States
The Majority of the United Colonies later voted to declare independence. In the draft version of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson became the first person to call the new nation by its future name when he titled the draft A Declaration of the Representatives of the United States of America.
It would only seem logical that the term colony would be removed form the name of the nation for which they fought so hard to keep independent, especially since colony would indicated a dependency. On September 9, 1776, the Second Continental Congress formally adopted the name of the United States of America as the official name for the new nation.
Fun fact: exactly 74 years after this name became official, on September 9, 1850, the state of California was admitted as the 31st state.
It is claimed that the abbreviation USA was first used when government inspectors were sent to verify that the United States’ gunpowder met their standards. When a cask met these standards, the inspector would mark it with USA. The stamping of casks of gunpowder with USA as a sign of approval apparently began in August of 1776.
What do you think about the history of the United States’ name?
Onward American 