Two hundred and fifty years ago today, the Continental Congress formally adopted the name “United States” for the new nation, replacing the commonly used term “United Colonies.”
The change reflected a new reality. In its declaration, Congress resolved, “That in all continental commissions, and other instruments, where, heretofore, the words ‘United Colonies’ have been used, the stile be altered for the future to the ‘United States.’”
The new name followed a momentous summer. On June 7, Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution declaring, “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.” Congress approved the resolution July 2, prompting John Adams to predict that the date would be celebrated as “the most memorable epoch in the history of America.” Instead, July 4 — the day Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence — became the date commemorated by generations of Americans.
By September, the Declaration had been drafted, adopted, signed, printed, and circulated, while the fight for independence continued on the battlefield. The Sept. 9 resolution gave the emerging nation a name that matched what its founders had declared months earlier: the United States of America.
