Plural?
Posted By Russ Emerson on May 14, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Prior to the Civil War, the usual usage when referring to the nation as a whole was “the United States are….”
Since the Civil War, “United States” has been treated linguistically as singular: “the United States is….”
Given the to-do over Arizona’s immigration enforcement law, as well as the incipient revolt of a number of states over the health care individual mandate (among other things) I get the feeling that we’re on the way to hearing more use of “the United States are….”
That’s how it’s registering in my thoughts, more and more. As it relates to the nature of state sovereignty within our federal republic, I’m fine with that usage.
Comments