The word ‘nation’ entered US founding texts only in 1789

Evidence

It is instructive that the Declaration of Independence in 1776 speaks only of ‘the people’, while the word ‘nation’ makes its debut only in the Constitution of 1789. — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 283

It is instructive that the Declaration of Independence in 1776 speaks only of ‘the people’, while the word ‘nation’ makes its debut only in the Constitution of 1789. Kemiläinen, Nationalism, p. 105. — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 284

Categorization

• CANDY: A neat trivia point about when the concept ‘nation’ formally arrives in American constitutional language.
• QUESTION: A precise dating of ‘nation’ entering US political language — worth checking whether this tracks a broader shift in American self-conception from peoplehood to nationhood.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on…, 283; Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on…, 284