[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Another thing, people used to say "the United States are a great country." I'd like to know when people started saying "is a great country" instead.

[AnalogReigns]

Another thing, people used to say "the United States are a great country." I'd like to know when people started saying "is a great country" instead.

Actually I recall the Ken Burn's classic "Civil War" documentary specifically covers that...as only during the Civil War was usage of "These United States" changed to "The United States."

A lot of bad, and good, things can be dated to that conflict.

[TBP]

Another thing, people used to say "the United States are a great country." I'd like to know when people started saying "is a great country" instead

Essentially, after the War Between the States. Before then, the Union was considered a union of sovereign states. The United States of America, essentially, is a creation of those states.

After the Union victory in the war, the verbiage changed due to a more centralized sense of being one Union, rather than several sovereign states in voluntary federation. Mr. Lincoln's legacy.