What was the first governing document to use the name “United States of America”?

The Articles of Confederation were the first governing document to use the name “United States of America.”

Article I of the Articles states that the confederacy’s formal name would be “The United States of America.” The document created a league of states during the Revolutionary War and established a national Congress with limited powers.

The Continental Congress adopted the Articles on November 15, 1777, after lengthy debate. They did not become fully operative until March 1, 1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them. The Articles then served as the nation’s governing framework until the Constitution replaced them in 1789.

The Articles gave Congress authority over diplomacy, war, western territories, and certain other matters, but Congress could not directly tax individuals or regulate interstate commerce. These weaknesses helped motivate the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The Declaration of Independence announced separation from Britain, but it was not a governing document; the Articles supplied the first formal national structure.