Since the inception of the United States, has the term "America" ever referred to something more than simply "the United States"?

Question

Today we use the terms *America* and *the United States* as synonyms. The official name of the country is *The United States of America*. But prompted by a question on another forum, wherein an author writing in 1883 referred to "... America, and the United States ...", I am curious as to whether the terms have always been precise synonyms. Now, the question in this case may be put down simply to bad writing. But in 1883 the United States of America included states and territories (as it does today). Would the term *America* have been at that time a larger concept, not precisely synonymous with *the United States*? In the Civil War did *America* mean anything that could be pinned down precisely, or did everything depend on the viewpoint of the speaker?

Answer 1

"The Americas" includes all of North, Central, and South America -- everything from Canada down through Brazil. Central and South American people consider it quite presumptuous that our country calls itself "America."