Talk:United States
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1. How did the article get the way it is?
Detailed discussions that led to the current consensus can be found in the archives of Talk:United States. Several topical talk archives are identified in the infobox to the right. A complete list of talk archives can be found at the top of the Talk:United States page. 2. Why is the article's name "United States" and not "United States of America"?
Isn't United States of America the official name of the U.S.? I would think that United States should redirect to United States of America, not vice versa as is the current case.
3. The United States is the oldest constitutional republic in the world! Why isn't this the case in the article?
Many American students are told the United States was the first constitutional republic in history. This is not true, however. San Marino adopted basic law on October 8, 1600, and Switzerland adopted its constitution through the Federal Charter of 1291.
Within Wikipedia articles it may be appropriate to add a modifier such as "oldest continuous, federal ..."'; however, it is more useful to explain the strength and influence of the U.S. Constitution and political system both domestically and globally. One must also be careful using the word "democratic" due to the limited franchise in early U.S. history and better explain the pioneering expansion of the democratic system and subsequent influence. The component states of the Swiss confederation were mostly oligarchies during the 18th century, however, being much more oligarchical than most of the United States, with the exceptions of Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Connecticut. 4. Why are the Speaker of the House and Chief Justice listed as leaders in the infobox? Shouldn't it just be the President and Vice President?
The President, Vice President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are stated within the U.S. Constitution as leaders of the executive branch, two houses of Congress, and Supreme Court respectively. As the three branches of government are equal, all four leaders get mentioned under the "Government" heading in the infobox. 5. What is the motto of the United States?
There was no de jure motto of the United States until 1956, when "In God We Trust" was made such. Various other unofficial mottos existed before that, most notably "E Pluribus Unum". The debate continues on the current status of "E Pluribus Unum" (de facto motto, traditional motto, etc.), but it has been determined that it never was an official motto of the United States. 6. Is the U.S. really the world's largest economy?
The United States was the world's largest national economy from about 1880 and largest by nominal GDP from about 2014, when it surpassed the European Union. China has been larger by purchasing power parity, since about 2016. 7. Isn't it incorrect to refer to it as "America" or its people as "American"?
In English, America (when not preceded by "North", "Central", or "South") almost always refers to the United States, and Americans usually always refers to U.S. citizens. The large supercontinent is called the Americas. 8. Why isn't the treatment of Native Americans given more weight?
The article is written in summary style, and the sections "Indigenous peoples" and "European colonization" summarize the situation. 9. Aren't U.S. territories part of the United States?
The territories under U.S. sovereignty are sometimes described by reliable sources[1] as part of the United States, and territories are treated as domestic for certain purposes like export controls. For other purposes, some territories are considered to be possessions of the United States under U.S. sovereignty, but not part of the country. As Territories of the United States explains, under the Insular Cases, some territories (e.g., Territory of Hawaii, 1900–1959) have been incorporated and made fully part of the United States. All five currently inhabited territories are legally unincorporated, so provisions of the U.S. Constitution like birthright citizenship do not necessarily apply there. However, all except American Samoa do confer birthright citizenship. Unincorporated U.S. territories field their own teams at the Olympics. Puerto Rico is within the main customs territory of the United States, but all other territories are outside of it. Wikipedia remains neutral on whether U.S. territories are part of the United States, as the claim is disputed. Wikipedia generally avoids the issue by stating that the U.S. asserts sovereignty over the unincorporated territories and explaining the details of the relationship where appropriate. (The U.S. territories are also different from the Freely Associated States, which undisputedly retain their own sovereignty and are not part of the United States, even though they make use of U.S. federal services for mail delivery, disaster relief, telecom and aviation regulations, and defense.) 10. The United States has become a dictatorship/fascist state! Why doesn't the article call it so in the infobox or elsewhere?
Wikipedia is not a political advocacy site or a place to "set the record straight"; its content relies on independent, reliable sources and must correlate in proportion to those sources with a neutral point of view. Though the U.S. government has been accused of democratic backsliding by some, the article will not label the country as a dictatorship or autocratic state until the majority of political scholars agree. Otherwise, calling it so would be original research. References |
 | This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (center, color, defense, realize, traveled) and some terms may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus. |
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