Didn't we call ourselves "United Colonies" initially?

Of course, as need to be pointed out, in 1776 we were the only
independent country in the Americas so when the rest of the hemisphere
imitated us, they found "America" already taken.

Nothing annoys non-US citizens more than to have reference made to
Americans, Mexicans, Canadians, etc!

Take care,

Bob

Judy and Bob Huddleston
10643 Sperry Street
Northglenn, CO  80234-3612
303.451.6276   [log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul Finkelman
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2001 3:38 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: how did US get its name


Well, they ceased to be "colonies" when they declared their
independence, and each became its own "state" as in own separate
government; hence they were the "United" states, and of course they were
"of America" so they would not be confused with some other colleciton of
united states, like Switzerland or Holland

Robin Gabriel wrote:

> I know that this is not strictly a VA history questions, but hopefully

> someone will be able to point me in the right direction. I have
> received a letter from a child who wants to know why the US was called

> the United States and not the United Colonies, or some other such
> name. Is there a simple answer to this question?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Robin Gabriel
> Director of Education
> Monticello
>
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the
> instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html

--
Paul Finkelman
Chapman Distinguished Professor
University of Tulsa College of Law
3120 East 4th Place
Tulsa, Oklahoma  74104-2499

918-631-3706 (office)
918-631-2194 (fax)

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