"While the colonies may have established it, the name 'America' was attributed long before. America is named after Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer who introduced the revolutionary concept in American history that the lands Christopher Columbus sailed to in 1492 were part of a separate continent.
A map (above) created in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller was the first to depict this new continent with the name 'America,' a Latinized version of 'Amerigo.'
(Source: How Did America Get Its Name? | Library of Congress Blog (loc.gov))
In 1493, after reports of Columbus’s discoveries reached them, the Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella enlisted papal support for their claims to the New World, aiming to establish their influence in civics education and to inhibit the Portuguese and other potential rivals.
To accommodate Spain, the Spanish-born pope Alexander VI issued bulls that set up a line of demarcation from pole to pole, 100 leagues (about 320 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands.
Spain was granted exclusive rights to all newly discovered and undiscovered lands in the region west of the line, while Portuguese expeditions were to remain east of it. Neither power was to occupy any territory already in the hands of a Christian ruler.
(Source: Treaty of Tordesillas | Summary, Definition, Map, & Facts | Britannica)
Over the centuries, rulers of several countries claimed lands in the 'new' world known as America.
Although native people already inhabited America, under the strict authority of kings and queens, subjects—many hoping to gain status and wealth—were utilized to discover, fight for, and labor (often forced) over valuable resources in America.
This exploitation supported and expanded the power of royal elites, a topic that highlights key aspects of American History.
If you want to delve deeper into the government systems before and during colonial times, and understand their relation to Civics Education and the US Constitution, click on the link below.
1776 - The United States of America.
In a pivotal moment in American history, English colonists living in America united to break ties with a tyrant king and gain independence. This was a significant event that emphasized the importance of civics education in understanding our nation's foundation.
The first instance of the term 'United States' appeared in the Declaration of Independence, where Thomas Jefferson referred to the thirteen united States.
(Source: U.S. Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission, 1935).
"The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them . . ."
- The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
Benjamin Franklin wrote an article in the Pennsylvania Gazette promoting the Albany Plan - A union of the Colonies. This cartoon (left) was published with his article. The snake cut into parts represents the separate colonies. Franklin's point was the colonies would not survive external threats if they did not join together.
Journal of the South Carolina Provincial Congress, 9 February 1776: "Col. Gadsden presented to the Congress an elegant standard, such as is to be used by the commander in chief of the American navy; being a yellow field, with a lively representation of a rattle-snake in the middle, in the attitude of going to strike, and these words underneath,
"DON'T TREAD ON ME!"
By the time of the War of Independence, the rattlesnake, frequently used in conjunction with the motto "Don't Tread on Me," was a common symbol for the United States, its independent spirit, and its resistance to tyranny.
https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/heritage/banners/usnavy-jack.html)
The People already had their rights before they created the Constitution.
The Constitution guarantees to protect a citizen's rights.
The Constitution defines & limits the powers of the government.
(source: U.S. Congress, Sesquicentennial Commission, The Story of the Constitution, 1935.
We, the people of the United States,
1. In order to form a more perfect union;
2. Establish justice;
3. Insure domestic tranquility;
4. Provide for the common defense;
5. Promote the general welfare; and,
6. Secure the blessing of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity,
do ordain and establish
this Constitution for the
United States of America.
(Pictured above is original flag with 13 stars representing the 13 colonies)
Today, the 50 white stars on a blue field represent the 50 states.
The colors on the flag represent:
and justice
"I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the
United States of America,
and
to the republic
for which it stands,
one nation
under God,
indivisible,
with liberty
and
justice for all."
Right to Life
Right to Liberty
Right to Pursuit of Happiness
Right to Equality under the law
* * *
The people had all their rights and liberties before they created the Constitution.
The Constitution was formed, among other purposes, to make the people's liberties secure - secure not only as against foreign attack but against oppression by their own government.
They set specific limits upon their national government and upon the States, and
reserved to themselves all powers
that they did not grant.
(source: U.S. Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission, established by a
Joint Resolution of the Congress of
the United States,
approved August 23, 1935).
* * *
Allegiance to the Republic
U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 4:
The United States shall guarantee to every
State in this Union
a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion;
and . . . against domestic Violence.
"WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable* Rights,
that among these are
Life, Liberty, and
the Pursuit of Happiness.
Governments are instituted
among Men,
deriving their
just Powers from
the Consent of the Governed,
that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends,
it is the
Right of the People to
alter or to abolish it, and
to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles . . .
We mutually Pledge to each other,
Our Lives, Our Fortunes and
Our Sacred Honor . . ."
July 4, 1776
* Unalienable - Permanent; cannot be removed
Delicate cluster! flag of teeming life!
Covering all my lands - all my seashores lining!
Flag of death!
(how I watch'd you through the smoke of battle pressing! How I heard you flap and rustle, cloth defiant!)
Ah my silvery beauty - ah my wooly white and crimson!
Ah to sing the song of you, my matron mighty!
My sacred one, my mother!
- Walt Whitman, 1871
Attorney Francis Scott Key witnessed the twenty-five hour bombardment of Fort McHenry from a British troopship anchored some four miles away. He was aboard the ship to negotiate the release of an American civilian imprisoned by the British.
On September 14, 1814, while aboard the British ship during the bombardment of Ft. McHenry, Francis Scott Key witnessed at dawn the failure of the British attempt to take Baltimore.
Based on this experience, he wrote a poem that poses the question,
"Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave?"
Almost immediately Key's poem was published and wedded to the tune of the "Anacreontic Song." Long before the Civil War "The Star Spangled Banner" became the musical and lyrical embodiment of the American flag. . .
On July 26, 1889, the Secretary of the Navy designated "The Star Spangled Banner" as the official tune to be played at the raising of the flag.
During Woodrow Wilson's presidency, it was chosen by the White House to be played wherever a national anthem was appropriate. Still the song was variously criticized as too violent in tone, too difficult to sing, and, by prohibitionists, as basically a drinking song.
But on its side "The Star Spangled Banner" had a strong supporter in John Philip Sousa who, in 1931, opined that besides Key's "soul-stirring" words, "it is the spirit of the music that inspires."
That same year, on March 3, President Herbert C. Hoover signed the Act establishing Key's poem and Smith's music as the official anthem of the United States. (source: Library of Congress.gov)
Oh, say can you see,
By the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed
At the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes
and bright stars,
Thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched
Were so gallantly streaming
And the rockets red glare,
The bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there.
O, say, does that
Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free
And the home of the brave?
The original seal of the United States created by Dr. B. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams before the Continental Congress of the newly independent United States adjourned July 4, 1776.
