Union
Origin: 1754
Two decades before the Declaration of Independence was written, the English colonies already felt the need for closer connections. In Albany, New York, in June 1754, a Congress of commissioners from seven of the colonies concerned themselves with "some method of effecting the Union between the colonies" and gave the opinion that "a Union of all the Colonies is...at present absolutely necessary for their security and defence." On July 10, 1754, the commissioners issued a "Plan of a Proposed Union of the Several Colonies of Masachusets-bay, New Hampshire, Coneticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jerseys, Pensilvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, For their Mutual Defence and Security, and for Extending the British Settlements in North America."
No such union took place at that time, but the way was prepared for a decisive break and a firmer union later in the eighteenth century. At the time of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson was among those who referred to the United States as the Union. And the Constitution of 1787 directed that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union."
During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln declared, "My paramount object is to save the Union." That kind of reference gave Union a Northern flavor, as opposed to the secession of the South. Once the war was over, Union again referred to the whole United States. A new state was said to be admitted to the Union. And every January the president still informs the Congress of the State of the Union.
