How the United States become a country

The United States was formed as a result of the American Revolution when the thirteen American colonies revolted against the rule of Great Britain. After the war ended, the U.S. Constitution formed a new government. These thirteen colonies became the first 13 states as each ratified the Constitution. The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware on December 7, 1787.

Northwest Territory

After the Revolutionary War, the United States gained control of large sections of frontier land to the west of the 13 colonies. At first this frontier land was organized into large territories such as the Northwest Territory. Over time, many of these territories became states such as Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio.

Louisiana Purchase

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought a large area of land from France called the Louisiana Purchase. It nearly doubled the size of the country. This land eventually became all or part of 14 different states.

Mexican-American War

The large land of Texas became part of the United States after declaring its independence from Mexico. However, soon the United States and Mexico were fighting in the Mexican-American War. After the war, the United States gained more territory from Mexico through the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo. Land from all or part of 10 states became part of the United States as a result of the war including California, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Oregon Territory

Up until the 1840s, much of the northwest was claimed by both Britain and the United States. The two countries came to an agreement in 1846 called the Oregon Treaty. This treaty gave the United States land that would later become the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho as well as parts of Montana and Wyoming.

Gadsden Purchase

The southern portions of Arizona and New Mexico were gained from the Gadsden Purchase in 1853.

Alaska and Hawaii

The last two states to join the Union were Alaska and Hawaii. Alaska was purchased from Russia for $7.2 million and Hawaii agreed to join the United States as the 50th state in 1959.

The American republic was founded on a set of beliefs that were tested during the Revolutionary War. Among them was the idea that all people are created equal, whether European, Native American, or African American, and that these people have fundamental rights, such as liberty, free speech, freedom of religion, due process of law, and freedom of assembly. America’s revolutionaries openly discussed these concepts. Many Americans agreed with them but some found that the ideology was far more acceptable in the abstract than in practice.

“Congress have judged it necessary to dissolve the Connection between Great Britain and the American Colonies. . . .”

John Hancock to George Washington, July 6, 1776

Settlements Prohibited West of the Appalachians

Thomas Hutchins. A General Map of the Country of the Ohio and Muskingum, Showing the Situation of the Indian-Towns . . . in William Smith. An Historical Account of the Expedition against the Ohio Indians, In the Year 1764. . . . Philadelphia: W. Bradford, 1765. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (7) [Digital ID# us0007, us0007_1]

John Adams, Second President

Joseph Brant, Mohawk Chief

Washington Urges Peaceful Plan for Settlement

John Sullivan, Revolutionary War General

Fears of Religious Oppression and Indian Attacks

Jefferson Defends Human Equality

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Marquis de Chastellux, June 7, 1785. Manuscript. Thomas Jefferson Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (27) [Digital ID# us0027]

Americans Seek Native American Allies

Creek Indians Create Own Representative Government

Paine’s Common Sense Stimulates American Minds

Adams On Best Form of Government

Virginia Constitution as Model for Declaration of Independence

Cherokees Forced to Cede Lands in Carolinas

Indians to Cede Lands in Carolinas

Center of Creation of the Republic

American Provinces Overlap Land of the Iroquois

Major Ridge, Cherokee Chief

Massacre Leads to American Attack on Iroquois

Paine’s Common Sense Provokes

[James Chalmers]. Plain Truth; Addressed to the Inhabitants of America, Containing Remarks on a Late Pamphlet, Entitled Common Sense . . .Written by Candidus. Philadelphia: R. Bell, 1776. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (018.01.01) [Digital ID#s us0018_01p1, us0018_01]

On September 9, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted a new name for what had been called the "United Colonies.” The moniker United States of America has remained since then as a symbol of freedom and independence.

Benjamin Franklin popularized the concept of a political union in his famous "Join, Or Die" cartoon in 1754. A generation later, the concept of unity became a reality. Thomas Jefferson is credited as being the first person to come up with the name, which he used while drafting the Declaration of Independence. In June 1776, Jefferson’s draft version of the Declaration started with the following sentence: “A Declaration of the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress assembled.” The final version of the Declaration starts with the date July 4, 1776 and the following statement: “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.”

Richard Henry Lee of Virginia had used the name “United Colonies” in a June resolution to Congress: "Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved,” Lee wrote.

These thoughts are included in the Declaration’s final paragraph. “We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States,” it reads.

On Monday, September 9, 1776, the Congress moved to approve some important resolutions, including payments for the army. The fifth resolution read as follows: “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.”

John C. Fitzpatrick from the Library of Congress, back in 1920, explained the origin of “United Colonies” and the abbreviation “U.S.A.” in an article for the Daughters of the American Revolution magazine.

Fitzpatrick said the words United Colonies were used by the Congress when it appointed George Washington as commander in chief in June 1775. The abbreviation U.S.A. had its origins as a way that government inspectors approved official gunpowder. Fitzpatrick said the army needed to have inspectors verify that gunpowder met standards, and it stamped “U.S.A.” on the casks as a mark, starting in August 1776,

Also, the words “United States of America” appeared in the first draft of the Articles of Confederation on July 8, 1776, as it was submitted to Congress. The Articles weren’t ratified by the states until March 1781.

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