For 16 months, America wasn't called the United States — it was the 'United Colonies'. Some even wanted to call it the “United States of Alleghania”

For a brief period during the American Revolution, the country we now know as the United States didn't have the name we know today.

The colonies were increasingly acting together as a single political force, but they were still commonly referred to as the “United Colonies.” It wasn't until September 9, 1776, that the Second Continental Congress officially ordered its documents to use “United States” instead.