Why the United States was originally just a lowercase description of thirteen independent states
In short: When the American founders chose their nation's name 250 years ago, they were not trying to build a single, unified country. They viewed themselves as a loose confederation of sovereign states, a distinction clearly reflected in the original, lowercase spelling of the word united in their founding documents.
On September 9, 1776, the Second Continental Congress formally transitioned from the term United Colonies to the United States. While this shift is now seen as the birth of a nation, historian Edward J. Larson notes that the founders held a different perspective. They believed they were creating a confederation where individual states retained primary sovereignty, delegating only specific, limited powers—such as orchestrating war and managing foreign relations—to a central government.
This structural caution was rooted in the political reality of the time. The central government lacked the power to tax and remained entirely dependent on the states for funding. At the time, regional identity was paramount; Virginians, for instance, identified primarily as Virginians and would have resisted integration into a single, monolithic state. The Declaration of Independence itself, signed in 1776, used a lowercase 'u' for 'united,' emphasizing that the 'States' were the true actors, not a singular, overarching entity.
The 1781 Articles of Confederation further solidified this arrangement. Article II explicitly stated that each state retained its freedom, independence, and every power not expressly delegated to the central Congress. This preference for state-level authority was a point of contention between Federalists, who favored a stronger central government, and Anti-Federalists, who sought to preserve the autonomy of the states. The name 'United States' was thus a description of a collective alliance, not a declaration of national unity.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: How Did the Nation Get Its Name? Other Suggestions Included the United Colonies, Columbia and the United States of Alleghania
- Also: United Colonies
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