What was the first American spacecraft carrying an astronaut to orbit Earth?

Question

What was the first American spacecraft carrying an astronaut to orbit Earth?

Answer 1

It was a Mercury capsule with John Glenn as astronaut.

Answer 2

Friendship 7.

Answer 3

It was a Mercury spacecraft named Friendship 7 by its pilot John Glenn. It was launched on a modified Atlas ICBM in January 1962. Glenn made 3 orbits of Earth.

Alan Shepard, mentioned in another answer, was the first American in space, but he flew on a Mercury Redstone on a suborbital flight. He did not make a complete orbit of Earth, instead travelling a few hundred miles out onm a fifteen minute journey in which he experienced about five minutes of weightlessness.

Answer 4

Friendship 7

Answer 5

Mercury-Redstone with one Mr. Alan Shepherd

Edit: Sorry, misread the question. The first to ballistically leave the atmosphere was Alan Shepherd... The first to orbit was John Glenn in a Mercury capsule...

Answer 6

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/nasa/nasa.ht...

This will tell you all you want to know about it.