About usa plan: Naming history of United States Politics of United States

United States of America
The first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" dates from a January 2, 1776, letter written by Stephen Moylan, Esquire, to George Washington's aide-de-camp Joseph Reed. Moylan was fulfilling Reed's role during the latter's absence.^[1] Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the Revolutionary War effort. The first known publication of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymous essay in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6, 1776. It is commonly mistaken that Thomas Paine coined the term in his pamphlet Common Sense, published in January 1776, but he never used the final form.
The second draft of the Articles of Confederation, prepared by John Dickinson and completed no later than June 17, 1776, declared "The name of this Confederation shall be the 'United States of America'." The final version of the Articles, sent to the states for ratification in late 1777, stated that "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America'."^[13] In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught"^[b] of the Declaration of Independence. This draft of the document did not surface until June 21, 1776, and it is unclear whether it was written before or after Dickinson used the term in his June 17 draft of the Articles of Confederation. In any case, the Declaration of Independence was the first official document to use the nation's new title.

History
In the early days of the American Revolution, the colonies as a unit were most commonly referred to as the "United Colonies". For example, president of the Continental Congress Richard Henry Lee wrote in a June 7, 1776 resolution: "These United Colonies are, and of right, ought to be, free and independent States."^] Before 1776, names for the colonies varied significantly; they included "Twelve United English Colonies of North America", "United Colonies of North America", and others On September 9, 1776, the Second Continental Congress officially changed the nation's name to the "United States of America".^]

In the first few years of the United States, however, there remained some discrepancies of usage. In the Treaty of Alliance (1778) with France, the term "United States of North America" was used. In accordance with this usage, when the Congress was drawing bills of exchange for French commissioners on May 19, 1778, they decided to use this term.^[17] President of the Continental Congress Henry Laurens even wrote that "Congress have adopted the Stile of the Treaties of Paris, 'the United States of North America'." Congress, however, reconsidered this change on July 11, 1778 and resolved to drop "North" from the bills of exchange, making them consistent with the name adopted in 1776
Propaganda artwork of Uncle Sam, the national personification of America; his name originated from the colloquial term U.S.
Since the Articles of Confederation, the concept of a Perpetual Union between the states has existed, and "Union" has become synonymous with "United States".^[19] This usage was especially prevalent during the Civil War, when it referred specifically to the loyalist northern states which remained part of the federal union.^[20]
The term "America" was seldom used in the United States before the 1890s, and rarely used by presidents before Theodore Roosevelt. It does not appear in patriotic songs composed during the eighteenth and most of the nineteenth centuries, including "The Star-Spangled Banner", "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", and the "Battle Hymn of the Republic"; it is used in "America the Beautiful" of 1895 and is common in twentieth-century songs like "God Bless America".^[21] The name "Columbia", popular in American poetry and songs of the late eighteenth century, derives its origin from Christopher Columbus. Many landmarks and institutions in the Western Hemisphere bear his name, including the country of Colombia and the District of Columbia^]

Circa 1810, the term Uncle Sam was "a cant term in the army for the United States," according to an 1810 edition Niles' Weekly Register.Uncle Sam is now known as a national personification of the United States.

Usage
The name "United States" is unambiguous; "United States of America" may be used in titles or when extra formality is desired. However, "United States" and "U.S." may be used adjectivally, while the full name cannot.^[31] English usage of "America" rarely refers to topics unrelated to the United States, despite the usage of "Americas" as the totality of North and South America.^[32] Colloquial names include the "U.S. of A." and, internationally, "the States". Even more informal names include "Murica" and "Merica", which imply a jocular and sometimes derogatory tone.^[33]
The official U.S. Government Publishing Office Style Manual prescribes specific usages for "U.S." and "United States". In treaties, congressional bills, etc.,^[c] "United States" is always used. In a sentence containing the name of another country, "United States" must be used. Otherwise, "U.S." is used preceding a government organization or as an adjective, but "United States" is used as an adjective preceding non-governmental organizations (e.g. United States Steel Corporation).^[34]
Style guides conflict over how various names for the United States should be used. The Chicago Manual of Style, until the 17th edition, required "US" and "U.S." to be used as an adjective; it now permits the usage of both as a noun,^[35][36] though "United States" is still preferred in this case.^[37] The Associated Press Stylebook permits the usage of "US" and "U.S." as both adjectives and nouns, though "US" (without the periods) is only allowed in headlines. APA Style, in contrast, only allows "U.S." to be used as an adjective, and disallows "US".

Other languages

Further information: List of country names in various languages (Q–Z)

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

In Spanish, the U.S. is known as Estados Unidos de América, literally "United States of America." The Americas are known simply as América.^[39] Spanish uses estadounidense and americano for the adjectival form, with the latter being mostly proscribed.^[40][41] In Chinese, the U.S. is known as 美国 (pinyin: měiguó, traditional: 美國). Literally "beautiful country," it in fact comes from the second character of the transliteration of America as "亚美利加" (pinyin: yàměilìjiā, traditional: 亞美利加). The Americas are known as 美洲 (pinyin: měizhōu), with the same etymology.^[42] In Japanese, the U.S. is known as アメリカ (Hepburn: amerika) and 米国 (Hepburn: beikoku), borrowing from Chinese. In Burmese, the United States of America is known as (amerikan pyedaungsu), literally "American Union."^[43] In Hindi, the United States of America is translated to अमेरिका के संयुक्त राज्य (amērikā kē saṁyukta rājya).^[44] In Kannada, the United States is known as ಅಮೆರಿಕದ ಸಂಯುಕ್ತ ಸಂಸ್ಥಾನ (amerikada saṁyukta saṁsthāna), literally "America's Union of States".^[45] In Esperanto, the United States of America is known as "Usono", borrowing from English Usonia.