In 1776, 13 British colonies in North America declared their independence.

If you got a brand new country with that new country smell,

what's the first thing you need to do?

Well, you need to come up with a name for the country.

Believe it or not, the United States of America wasn't everyone's first choice.

Learn more about the name of the United States on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Hello. Hello.

My name is.

Hello.

Hello. Hello, my name is Talia Smith, the host of Once Upon a Time, a storytelling

podcast. On our show we talk to historians, artists, podcasters, and creators from all around the world

about the stories that impact our lives.

Join us for once upon a time a story telling podcast season three

streaming on all platforms April 2nd you can find us at a storytelling podcast on

Instagram for more information.

Before we get into the creation of the name of the country in question, we have to take a step

back and look at the origin of the word America.

As you might be aware, the word America is believed to have come from the name of an Italian

navigator named Amerigo Vespucci.

The first use of the word America was in 1507. German cartographer, Martin

Waldseid-Muler, created a map which was at the time the largest map in the world. His map was the very first one that showed a unique landmass that was separate from Asia.

For 15 years after the first voyage of Columbus,

most people still thought that this land was part of Asia, and that a route to India might still be possible.

...