>Is the supposed arrogance in the founding fathers deciding that >"America" would be part of the country's name? Well, why not? Other >countries could have done the same, yes?
i just spent a few minutes searching, and i can't find the source and the story, but i know that the naming of the "United States of America" was a compromise between the states. I remember there were some other names up for consideration... I think they stuck with the dull (comparatively) "United States of America" because the states were wary of getting sucked into a Union and losing their individual power... I wish I remembered the names that were on the table - there was one really pretty one!! Maybe one of the librarians knows how to find this information quickly... :-) -yael
