Are you American?!?

Question

Am I uncorrect in calling someone who lives in Canada an American, someone who lives in the United States of America and American, someone who lives in Mexico an American, someone who lives in Brazil and American, etc. etc. etc.

Just like we refer to people who live in France, the UK, Germany, Spain, etc. as European because all of those countries make up Europe, it is proper to refer to anyone that lives in North, Central, or South America as American...right?

So when people say that only Americans should work in the United States of America, and they mean it in the context that Mexicans should not work illegally in the U.S.A., they are completely ignorant to the fact that everyone on this contentent is considered an American.

And when you see a sign that says proud to be American, a Mexican or Canadian can still stand behind that phrase and be a citizen of either country.

And it would be correct to call a citizen of those countries an American


Or am I completely wrong here?

Answer 1

There is probably some truth in what you say but trying to redefine "American" to include all the peoples you would like to include in this day and age is ultimately a no-win situation. You will simply be whipping a dead horse trying to pursue it.

The English colonists of the thirteen colonies had been calling themselves Americans since the seventeenth century even though their British rulers called them "Continentals" and "Yankees."

On the other hand, the term American (americano in Spanish) was never used in Latin America. The Spanish always called their colonists in the Americas "criollos," the indigenous people "indios," and the people of mixed blood "mestizos." So did the Latin Americans themselves. The French were the first people to use the term "Latin America" during the reign of Napoleon III.

I would ask you also not to overlook the role that things like nationalism, religion and politics play in naming peoples and places.

For example, Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg) and Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) were both named after men who had nothing to do with these cities and who never visited them. The decisions to rename these cities as such were purely political and emotional with no basis in logic.

Theoretically, anyone living on the Indian subcontinent could be called an "Indian." To Alexander the Great and even the British, it was all "India." Yet, try calling a Pakistani, a Bengali, a Nepalese, a Sri Lankan or an Afghan an "Indian" today and they will almost certainly be offended. This is where nationalism and religion complicate the picture.

So, trying to redefine what an "American" is today - after applying it to English-speaking Americans for 350 years - would be just as sticky and controversial of an issue.

Answer 2

You are completely wrong. While technically they are North or Central or South Americans, Citizens Of the U.S. are known as Americans.

Answer 3

if you live in Canada your a Canadian.
if you live in Mexico your a Mexican.
if you live in the USA your an American.
and so on so forth.

did you pay attention in school? if you did woulda known the answer to this.

Answer 4

You are correct. However most people call Americans, those from the USA.

The rest you have mentioned, are still Americans as they live in the two American continents