E pluribus unum— out of many, one.    Before the Civil War, the United States was generally accepted as a plural noun.  For example, we used to say, “the United States are full of people seeking political freedom.”  Around the time of the Civil War, we started to view the country as a singular entity, rather than just a bunch of united states.  Now we say, “the United States is full of people seeking the new Big Mac Snack Wraps from McDonald’s.”   Watching the Olympics, I very often hear the commentators reinforcing the country’s singularity…  I also see a lot of McDonald’s commercials.