Changes

[[File:Columb1.jpg|thumb|220px|left|[[Thomas Nast]], the great cartoonist of the 1870s, often used Columbia to portray America.  Here she is enslaved by taxes. ''Harper's Weekly'' Feb. 9, 1878]]

[[File:Columb1.jpg|thumb|220px|left|[[Thomas Nast]], the great cartoonist of the 1870s, often used Columbia to portray America.  Here she is enslaved by taxes. ''Harper's Weekly'' Feb. 9, 1878]]

Columbia was introduced by black poet Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) in her 1776 poem, "To His Excellency [[George Washington]]".<ref>Previous poems by others had used the term in the 1760s, but they were forgotten.</ref> Wheatley's poem was based heavily on classical Roman sources, which she used in translation, and as befits a model of [[Republicanism]], Columbia is garbed in Roman dress.<ref>Thomas J. Steele, "The Figure of Columbia: Phillis Wheatley plus George Washington," ''New England Quarterly,'' Vol. 54, No. 2 (Jun., 1981), pp. 264-266 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/364975 in JSTOR]</ref> Washington was impressed and asked to meet Wheatley. The term caught public fancy and many places in the United States were named after her, such as the [[District of Columbia]], [[Columbia University]], and the Colombia River.<ref>In 1858, [[Queen Victoria]], on advice of her husband Prince Albert, chose  [[British Columbia|"British Columbia"]] for a new colony that later became part of Canada. It was named after the Columbia Department of the Hudson Bay Company, which in turn was named after the Columbia River. Ged Martin, "The Naming of British Columbia," ''Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies,'' Vol. 10, No. 3 (Autumn, 1978), pp. 257-263 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/4048132 in JSTOR]</ref>  Before Columbia came into wide use around 1790, America was often represented as an Indian princess, especially in European cartoons.  

Columbia was introduced by black poet Phillis Wheatley (1753–1784) in her 1776 poem, "To His Excellency [[George Washington]]".<ref>Previous poems by others had used the term in the 1760s, but they were forgotten.</ref> Wheatley's poem was based heavily on classical Roman sources, which she used in translation, and as befits a model of [[Republicanism]], Columbia is garbed in Roman dress.<ref>Thomas J. Steele, "The Figure of Columbia: Phillis Wheatley plus George Washington," ''New England Quarterly,'' Vol. 54, No. 2 (Jun., 1981), pp. 264-266 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/364975 in JSTOR]</ref> Washington was impressed and asked to meet Wheatley. The term caught public fancy and many places in the United States were named after her, such as the [[District of Columbia]], [[Columbia University]], and the Colombia River.<ref>In 1858, [[Queen Victoria]], on advice of her husband Prince Albert, chose  [[British Columbia|"British Columbia"]] for a new colony that later became part of Canada. It was named after the Columbia Department of the Hudson Bay Company, which in turn was named after the Columbia River. Ged Martin, "The Naming of British Columbia," ''Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies,'' Vol. 10, No. 3 (Autumn, 1978), pp. 257-263 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/4048132 in JSTOR]</ref>  Before Columbia came into wide use around 1790, America was often represented as an Indian princess, especially in European cartoons.  

[[File:Space Shuttle Columbia NASA.jpg|thumb|Space Shuttle Columbia, NASA.]]

[[File:Space Shuttle Columbia NASA.jpg|thumb|Space Shuttle Columbia, NASA.]]