The [Neutral point of view>neutrality] of this article is [NPOV disputedisputed]. Please see the discussion on the [English, is generally understood to mean "of or relating to the United States of America". For example, "Elvis Presley was an American singer" or "The American president gave a speech today..." Some critics, particularly in Latin America, have objected to this usage, feeling it unfairly appropriates the meaning of American. The critics, however, do not call themselves "American" #redirect [[Template:Fact]].
The adjective American may also be used to mean "of or relating to the Americas", even when used in the United States.
Various theories exist for the derivation of the word America. The most commonly expounded is that German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller derived it from the Latinized version of the name of Amerigo Vespucci (Americus Vespucius), an Italian merchant and cartographer whose exploratory journeys in the early 1500s brought him to the eastern coastline of South America and to the Caribbean. A second theory suggests its derivation from the name of one Richard Amerike of Bristol in England, financier of John Cabot's expedition in 1497, and Cabot became the first Western European to set foot on the mainland. Another theory is that it came from the region of Amerrique in Nicaragua. However it came into existence, the term American was subsequently used as an adjective describing the New World and its native people.
By the 1500s, the word American was used by Europeans for the indigenous habitants of the New World and was extended to describe newly settled Europeans and their mixed progeny. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation proclaimed a new country, "The United States of America." Above the signatories of the Articles of Confederation it states as follows: "In Witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania the ninth day of July in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Eight, and in the Third Year of the independence of America." It is noteworthy that only the word America, not the United States, was used.
Alexander Hamilton, in the Federalist Papers, writes of "the American republic" in The Federalist Paper 51 and 70. In The Federalist Paper 24 Hamilton uses American to describe land outside the United States of America :
Though a wide ocean separates the United States from Europe, yet there are various considerations that warn us against an excess of confidence or security. On one side of us, and stretching far into our rear, are growing settlements subject to the dominion of Britain. On the other side, and extending to meet the British settlements, are colonies and establishments subject to the dominion of Spain. This situation and the vicinity of the West India Islands, belonging to these two powers create between them, in respect to their American possessions and in relation to us, a common interest.
In 1801, a document titled "Letter to American Spaniards" is considered to have directly influenced the Act of Independence and the 1811 Constitution of Venezuela [link]. This document was published in French, Spanish, and English in 1799, 1801 and 1808, respectively.
The Treaty of Peace and Amity, Signed at Algiers September 5, 1795, [link] is an agreement with the "United States of North America" and uses both "citizens of the United States" and "American Citizens" in the document.
Since the late 1700's American has been used in both the historical continental sense and to refer to the United States of America.
Disagreement over meaning of American
The use of American as a national demonym for United States Citizens has been frequently challenged primarily by Latin Americans H. L. Mencken. [Names for Americans]. American Speech, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Dec., 1947) , pp. 241-256.. This has been attributed to a shift in meaning in English usage of a word that originally referred to the land that comprises the New World.
Political-cultural views
Spain
In Spain people who have lived in the Western Hemisphere but now live in Spain may be called americanos. The Diccionario de la Lengua Española (Dictionary of the Spanish Language) published by the Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy), also gives estadounidense (United Stater) as one of the definitions of americano, meaning "someone from the United States or relating to the United States".
Canada
In Canada, American is frequently used in specific reference to the United States. Some Canadians in particular have devoted a great deal of attention to proclaiming that they are not "Americans" both in their own cultural products and when they travel outside the region and are frequently mistaken for U.S. citizens Allan Smith. Canada - An American Nation?: Essays on Continentalism, Identity, and the Canadian Frame of Mind (1994)[Quote from source requested on [talk page] to verify interpretation of source]
Some Canadians have protested the use of American as a national demonym in the past .
In 1910s-1920s some Canadians called themselves Americans; the usage was rare after 1930. John Dafoe, Canada: An American Nation (1911).
United States
The use of the word American in the United States has given rise to terms like Mexican American to refer to people of Mexican origin living in the United States, either as first-generation immigrants or their descendants. These terms are not used to refer to natives of Mexico living in Mexico.
United States Census
Self-described American ancestry in US counties per 2000 United States Census. (Dark colors may represent higher relative density).
In the United States census, millions of people describe their ancestry or ethnic origin as American, particularly those belonging in southern states. This region has a high percentage of people who trace their ancestry to the colonial origins of the United States but often lack records of the specific countries of their ancestors' origins. People who describe themselves as Italian-American, Mexican American or Native American were coded separately per census tabulation rules.
Prominent figures
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is quoted as saying, "...todos somos Americanos" during a speech in Honduras [link]. His quotation is translated as "We are all Americans" by the [Washington Post] and [CNN].
American in other contexts
American in law, generally
In legal circles a citizen of the United States is usually referred to as a United States citizen, not an American citizen, though the latter term is common in popular usage. The following excerpt is from the North American Free Trade Agreement:
"Only air carriers that are U.S. citizens are permitted to operate domestic air services or operate international air services as a "U.S." carrier; non-U.S. citizens may own and control foreign air carriers that operate between the U.S. and foreign points." [link].
In Black's Law Dictionary, 8th edition, "American" is defined as "of pertaining to the United States."
American in trademark law
There are hundreds of prominent organizations and corporations that use "American" in their names to indicate that they are located in or serve the United States of America. Since all of them have a vested interest in their trademarks — many of which have been established as brand names at enormous expense — it is highly unlikely that any of them would consider a name change in the foreseeable future.
Notable organizations and corporations with American in their trademark
The following prominent organizations and corporations use "American" in their trademarks to refer solely to the United States of America:
English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew and Russian speakers commonly #redirect [[Template:Fact]] use American (Japanese: アメリカ人), (Russian: ) (Mandarin Chinese: pinyin- měi guó rén, traditional- 美國人, simplified- 美国人) to refer to United States citizens. These languages generally have a more specific#redirect [[Template:Fact]] term for U.S. nationals, for example, U.S. Amerikaner in German, or étatsunien in French.
In Spanish and Portuguese, estadounidense (estado-unidense in Portuguese fashion) is preferred to americano for U.S. nationals; the latter tends to refer to any resident of the Americas and not necessarily from the United States; English spoken in Latin America often makes this distinction as well.
Latin Americans also may employ the term norteamericano (North American, which itself conflates the USA, Canada and Mexico).
Adjectives derived from "United States" (such as United Statian) appear awkward in English, but similar constructions exist in Spanish (estadounidense or estadinense) and Portuguese (estado-unidense) (and also in French (états-unien) and Italian (statunitense), though these are not widely used.)
The word Gringo is widely used in all of Latin America, to make a reference to U.S. residents, not necessarily in a pejorative way. Yanqui (Yankee) is also very common in some regions (in contrast to "gringo", "yanqui" tends to have a pejorative undertone.)
With the 1994 passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the following words were used to label the United States Section of that organization: in French, étatsunien; in Spanish, estadounidense. In English the adjective used to indicate relation to the United States is U.S.
Alternative adjectives for U.S. citizens
There are a number of alternative adjectives to "American" as an adjective (in this case, a demonym) for a citizen of the United States that do not simultaneously mean any inhabitant of the Americas. However, with the exception of U.S. or United States citizens, no serious alternative to American is currently used universally. [link].
Condon, J.C. (1986). “…So near the United States”. Chapter 8 in J.M. Valdes (Ed.), Culture bound: Bridging the cultural gap in language teaching. (pp. 85-93). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
