Name of the United States
Congress replaces "United Colonies" with "United States" in official instruments
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗The name change was one sentence tucked between an admiralty dispute and a Board of War report — and it did not contain the words "of America."
9 September 1776: two words swapped in Philadelphia
Meeting in Philadelphia on 9 September 1776, the Continental Congress resolved that future continental commissions and other instruments should use "United States" wherever "United Colonies" had previously been used.
The recorded resolution says "United States." It does not say "United States of America."
A housekeeping fix, not a coinage
Congress's official commissions and instruments still carried the pre-independence style, an administrative inconsistency left over after the July declaration of independent states. The measure was prospective: it directed the substitution in documents yet to be issued.
The phrase itself was not new. "United States of America" had already appeared in the Declaration and in the draft Articles of Confederation.
The rest of the day's business
The naming resolution sat among routine work — military payments, correspondence, an admiralty appeal, appointments. Earlier in the same session Congress ordered $500,000 sent to the army's paymaster general.
John Adams recorded the resolution in his account of 9 September, then left Philadelphia for an unsuccessful peace conference with Lord Howe.
Sources
Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources 2 audit passes
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