Sentence:  The history of the infant colonies teaches us that the country comprised within the limits of the <WSD>now</WSD> United States of America was originally patented in the reign of James I., of England, into "two portions:" that in less than eighty years from that period, the same was again divided into "twelve" distinct provinces; a "thirteenth" being after added in the creation of the State of Georgia. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Present; current.