ABSTRACT
In historiography, the invention of America refers to the act of naming and conceptualizing the “newly discovered” areas in the West by the Europeans of the early modern period. From the 19th century, critics denied Vespucci’s credibility due to discrepancies in his accounts. The naming of America, therefore, was thought to have been a substantial error for some time. The precursor of the US Constitution, the “Articles of Confederation” from November 1777, also refers to “The United States of America” in its very first paragraph. Reference was moreover made to “America,” although here it only pertained to the new nation. The events in the United States attracted worldwide attention. Documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were disseminated rapidly in Europe and other parts of the world. By the mid-19th century, in most languages, America denoted the formerly small and insignificant British colonies, which, after their independence, had unwaveringly pursued the path to American hegemony.
