Seems from the very beginning; an act establishing several federal crimes in 1790 [1] - only one year after the Constitution came into force - was titled &quot;An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against the United States&quot;.<p>EDIT: And the root of this phrase seems to be in the distinction between civil and criminal offenses - an crime is an &quot;offense against the State&quot; [2], where the government has standing to bring the case to court rather than the individuals (if any) specifically harmed. In this context, the usage &quot;offense against the United States&quot; pretty clearly indicates crimes where the United States rather than an individual states has jurisdiction.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Crimes_Act_of_1790" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Crimes_Act_of_1790</a><p>[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;criminal.findlaw.com&#x2F;criminal-law-basics&#x2F;the-differences-between-a-criminal-case-and-a-civil-case.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;criminal.findlaw.com&#x2F;criminal-law-basics&#x2F;the-differen...</a>