[R30350]

Two things. First, it's easier than saying 'a person from the United States of America' or making something up like United Statesian. It seems to be the easiest thing for anyone to say, and I believe that played a big role in it. But also, I know in the U.S. colonial time there was a lot of pride in being American. Since there was no U.S.A. here yet, American meant from the Americas (by convention I count it as two continents, north and south.) I remember when I had history, one woman introduced to the British court, or something like that (I wasn't paying the best of attention) insisted on being introduced as an American rather than a British colonist from the Americas. This pride probably lingered, since the us vs. them mentality at the time was America vs. Europe (most specifically Great Britan), at least in the colonies. And again, it's easier to say. I was in Canada once, and I was handing some money back to a lady who dropped it, and she said 'Oh, are you an American?' I simply said yes, but I remembering thinking 'Aren't you too?'

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Name : R30350, City : Nowhere, State : MI Country : United States, 

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