Gazette of the United States
Unmasking the Hidden Authors and the Mysterious Deaths of the Early Republic
Who Named the “United States of America” and the “Declaration of Independence"?
By Michael Chamberlin and Patricia Blum
June 29, 2026 at 10:45:00 PM
A majority of the citizens of the United States believe that Thomas Jefferson named our nation the "United States of America," and named the document that declared our separation from Great Britain, the “Declaration of Independence.” Unfortunately, they have been misled by the “gatekeepers” of American history.
The citizens of the United States need to keep a close, guarded eye on these "gatekeepers." When it comes to telling the whole truth, these gatekeepers have not always been as trustworthy as we might hope.
Combine that institutional bias with the fact that colonial-era family traditions—how heirs remember their ancestors—are often fiercely protective of their own bloodlines, and history quickly becomes incredibly muddled.
That is the case with the letter, signed “Republicus,” which appeared in the Pennsylvania Evening Post on June 29, 1776. That was five days before printer John Dunlap would print the first broadsides of the Declaration of Independence, on the 4th of July.
Modern academia is hesitant to attribute this work to any specific writer, but they do seem to agree who might be a suitable candidate. Why won't they confirm that authorship, publicly? Because his name was Thomas Paine, and he had written the most blasphemous treatise ever written about organized religion.
Theodore Roosevelt liked to refer to Paine as "a filthy little atheist." To our gatekeepers of history, who are deeply religious, admitting that Paine had named our nation, was out of the question. Read the short Republicus letter below. A discussion of the supporting evidence will follow.
The following piece was published in Benjamin Towne's Pennsylvania Evening Post on June 29, 1776, five days before the "unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America," was made public using printed broadsides, beginning on July 4, 1776. A textualized transcription is provided below the image.
Paine, Thomas, writing as Republicus, "For the Pennsylvania Evening Post"; Ed. Benjamin Towne, Philadelphia, Vol. II, Issue 225, p. 326.
For the PENNSYLVANIA EVENING POST. EVERY moment that I reflect on our affairs, the more am I convinced of the necessity of a formal Declaration of Independence. Reconciliation is thought of now by none but knaves, fools, and madmen; and as we cannot offer terms of peace to Great Britain until, as other nations have done before us, we agree to call ourselves by some name, I shall rejoice to hear the title of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in order that we may be on a proper footing to negociate a peace. Besides, the condition of those brave fellows who have fallen into the enemy's hands as prisoners, and the risk which every man runs who bears arms either by land or sea, in the American cause, makes a declaration of independence absolutely necessary, because no proper cartel for an exchange of prisoners can take place while we remain dependants. It is some degree of comfort to a man taken prisoner that he belongs to some national power — is the subject of some State that will see after him. Oliver Cromwell would have sent a memorial as powerful as thunder to any King on earth who dared to have used prisoners in the manner which ours have been. What is it that we have done in this matter? Nothing. We were subjects of Great-Britain, and must not do these things. Shame on your cowardly souls that do them not! You are not fit to govern. Were Britain to make a conquest of America, I would, for my own part, choose rather to be conquered as an independent State than as an acknowledged rebel. Some foreign powers might interpose for us in the first case, but they cannot in the latter, because the law of all nations is against us. Besides, the foreign European powers will not be long neutral, and unless we declare an independence and send embassies to seek their friendship, Britain will be beforehand with us; for the moment she finds that she cannot make a conquest of America by her own strength, she will endeavour to make an European affair of it. Upon the whole, we may be benefited by independence, but we cannot be hurt by it, and every man that is against it is a traitor.
REPUBLICUS.
On November 9, 1775, The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution that required its members to swear an oath of absolute secrecy and sign it. That oath read:
Resolved That every member of this Congress considers himself under the ties of virtue, honor and love of his Country not to divulge directly or indirectly any matter or thing agitated or debated in Congress before the same shall have been determined, without leave of the Congress; nor any matter or thing determined in Congress which a majority of the Congress shall order to be kept secret, and that if any member shall violate this agreement he shall be expelled this Congress and deemed an enemy to the liberties of America and liable to be treated as such, and that every member signify his consent to this agreement by signing the same.
[Thomson, Charles, Secret Journals of the Acts and Proceedings of Congress, from the first meeting thereof to the dissolution of the Confederation, By the Adoption of the Constitution of the United States, Vol. I, Second Continental Congress, Boston, 1820, Ed. Thomas B. Wait, p. 31.]
Some on the signees that are worthy of note, for the purpose of this historical research, were Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. America knows them as the "Committee of Five," the five Representatives tasked with drafting the Declaration of Independence from Britain
With that oath sworn to, it is difficult to imagine any sitting member of Congress taking the chance that their early, and public announcement to the Pennsylvania Evening Post, that a Declaration of Independence from British rule was coming soon, while knowing it might get them expelled from Congress, and, quite possibly, considered treasonous.
After all, “deemed an enemy to the liberties of America and liable to be treated as such,” is unequivocal - treason, by definition. Do you know what Thomas Jefferson’s recommended punishment was for “treason” was?
If any person commit Petty treason, or a husband murder his wife, a parent his child, or a child his parent, he shall suffer death by hanging, and his body be delivered to Anatomists to be dissected.
Dissected? For “Petty treason”? If that is the penalty for a petty treason, what is the penalty for a high treason, like breaking your oath of congressional secrecy, and letting the world (enemy nations) know that you’re planning to cut your dependence on governing rule by Great Britain, sometime in the near future?
Republicus had let the cat out of the bag; but Congress had not given permission to release that secretive “intel.” Nowhere in the Journals of the Continental Congress record - from June 28th to July 4th, when the broadsides were first printed by John Dunlap - make any mention of a permission to just bypass the oath, and let the world know that American Patriots were about to revolt, violently if required.
Republicus was not Jefferson; he was not Franklin; he was not Hancock; he was not Adams, or any other member of Congress. It should be obvious, to any rational person, that that Republicus letter came from someone outside of that governing body.
Besides, there is irrefutable evidence that points directly at a specific rising star author, and editor, sitting on the fringe of that governing body, who, just six months earlier, in his pamphlet, Common Sense, was teetering on the edge of creating the name of our country to the "United States of America," using phrases like United Colonies, American State, and FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES OF AMERICA.
Paine was not a member of Congress and had sworn no oath of secrecy. He would soon join the Army, and would swear an oath of allegiance for soldiering, but he had not done so yet.
With Common Sense, Thomas Paine convinced the people of the Thirteen Colonies that independence with Great Britain was unavoidable. By using the phrase "Declaration of Independence," and the "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," in his Republicus letter, Paine was announcing to the Colonies that independence, from Great Britain, was just around the corner. The British would consider the piece treasonous, and its author would be subject to the death penalty.
That is why Paine, the next day, was willing to go on a super-secret, military mission.