A nation gets a name

September 9, 1776, may not be the first date Americans think of when pondering their nation’s history, but it’s a significant day nonetheless. According to the National Constitution Center, on September 9, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted a new name for a collective of colonies that had been referred to as the “United Colonies.” The name chosen on that day in late summer 1776, the United States of America, has endured. While the opening sentence of the Declaration of Independence, which was issued on July 4, 1776, refers to the “thirteen united States of America,” it was a little more than two months later when the Congress passed a series of resolutions, including one in which it replaced “United Colonies” with “United States” as the fledgling nation’s new name.