Staff Reports
Americans are pausing this week to mark a small but mighty moment: on Sept. 9, 1776, the Continental Congress swapped the label “United Colonies” for a new proper name — the “United States.” That one-line resolution is getting renewed attention as part of the America250 semiquincentennial. The change looks tiny on the page, but it helped turn a rebellious collection of provinces into a nation with a name, a purpose, and, eventually, a flag people would fight under.
The one-line resolution that changed everything
Congress didn’t pass a long manifesto on Sept. 9 — it passed a simple order: “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.'” That one sentence mattered because it moved the language from description to title. The Lee Resolution and the Declaration of Independence set the idea of independence into motion earlier that summer. This administrative step made “United States” the official name used in commissions and documents, helping lock in a national identity.
Who first wrote the name down?
Historians have traced the phrase “United States of America” to several 1776 sources, but the earliest known written use so far appears in a January 2, 1776, letter by Stephen Moylan, an Irish immigrant and aide to Gen. George Washington, who wrote he wanted to go “from the United States of America to Spain.” That doesn’t prove Moylan “invented” the name single-handedly — it only proves he wrote it down first in the surviving record. The phrase was in circulation in newspapers, drafts, and official papers that year, which is why Congress decided to standardize the name that September.
Why a name matters — and why the semiquincentennial should matter to us
A name creates an idea. “United Colonies” sounded like a temporary alliance. “United States” sounded like a standing political body with a mission. The Founders knew this intuitively; they were deliberate about language because words shaped law and loyalty. America250 and related commemorations are doing what good history does: reminding citizens why a nation began and what it aimed to protect. If you think that sounds quaint, remember that names and stories animate patriotism — or hollow it out when we let schools, media, and courts rewrite the story to suit modern fads.
Remember the past, and defend the future
As communities stage readings of that Sept. 9 resolution, open museum exhibits, or install time capsules, the point should be more than nostalgia. It should be a short, sharp lesson: names presage duties. Teaching children the story of how “United States” became a title — not an accident, but a choice — is part of renewing national identity. If conservatives and patriots mean to keep a free republic, we need to treat anniversaries like America250 as a prompt to act, to teach, and yes, to push leaders — including President Trump — to defend the nation’s borders, laws, and civic culture. The Founders chose a name when the risk of failure was real. We can at least choose to honor that resolve with more than a plaque and a hashtag.
