America

America. It must be pointed out that the name, America, is generally used in this work to mean the United States. Though there is no question whatever that the name originally referred to the whole Western Hemisphere, general usage has gradually justified its application particularly to this country. This trend probably goes back to Colonial times and has been aided by the fact that it seems impossible to devise any other name which describes the people of the United States, together with the fact that there are specialized names for our other fellow inhabitants on this Continent, known as Canadians, and those to the south quite as inevitably became known as Mexicans. The inhabitants of South America can readily be specified under such names as Brazilians, Argentinians, Peruvians, etc.

It is particularly noticeable in Masonic records of Colonial times that British authorities used America, North America, and New England rather loosely and that Englishmen in general had rather sketchy notions about the geography on this side of the water. The Colonies were commonly called Plantations. New England might mean the Colonies northeast of New York, or it might include everything down to Virginia. Other nations, such as France and Spain, had claims on portions of this Continent, for examples, Florida and Louisiana. The French interests did not disappear until the purchase of Louisiana in 1803 and the Spanish or Mexicans held out until the independence of the Texas Republic was recognized in 1836 and the close of the Mexican W*r in 1848.

Macoy Collector's Note: Coil sets his editorial parameters here, providing valuable historical context on how geographic terms evolved in early Masonic warrants and records.