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The terms America and Americans have been used for hundreds of years, not just the last decade or two. I've had this same conversation with Mexicans and people

The terms America and Americans have been used for hundreds of years, not just the last decade or two. I've had this same conversation with Mexicans and people from South America. The U.S. was the first independent country in the Americas recognized by foreign countries and remained the only one for many years. The term American had been used by the British for years to refer to the colonies, and was adopted by the country itself. In his farewell address, George Washington said this: "The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation." More than that, this is just what citizens of the U.S. are called. New Zealanders are Kiwis and Brits are Brits and Canadians are Canadians. Every nationality has a name, this is ours. The continents shouldn't be called America anyways, as Amerigo Vespuci had little to do with its discovery or exploration, but that's the way it is. In other words, this isn't some evil American power grab, and an insult to the rest of our Western Hemisphere neighbors, but a quirk of history that won't change any time soon.

dgut 8y ago
It's irrelevant what Washington or anybody else said. The common name for the North and South American landmasses is America (note: not Americas). The land between Canada and Mexico has no more rights to that name than the rest of the continent (or continents, depending on what model you prefer). Abroad, Hollywood has popularized the use of "American" to refer to citizens of the USA. Also, most languages don't have any other way to refer to US citizens because of its odd name. I'm only aware of Spanish "estadounidenses". It's no different than if the most powerful European country were to call themselves Europeans alone.
- russellbeattie 8y ago
  The quote isn't irrelevant to the comment I was responding to, it was an example of its usage hundreds of years ago, loooong before Hollywood. Like I said above, it's a historical artifact, not some brazen attempt at linguistic hegemony. (Sorry, but the Americas is what the continents are called normally - in English at least - did you just make up a new rule? There's even a Wikipedia entry: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas) Regardless, the name for Americans isn't changing any time soon, so I wouldn't get worked up about it. Besides, we are Americans in the most pedantic use of the term - if the Canadians, Mexicans and anyone else in this hemisphere wants to call themselves Americans too, they can go right ahead. They'll just seem petty and silly though.
  - liveoneggs 8y ago
    George Washington is a made-up Hollywood figure. Humanity only started around 60 years ago and the rest is just made up movie plots and children's books.
  - dgut 8y ago
    Its usage hundreds of years ago inside the US, yes. That's a pretty irrelevant argument for the rest of the remaining countries that are part of America, isn't it? No, the continent(s) have traditionally been called America. A look at Google Ngram Viewer shows that Americas has hardly been used. It's a recent phenomenon, probably a result of the US hijacking "America". Even I feel sometimes compelled to call it "Americas" in Europe because it has become a given that US=America. Not sure about the literature of the US, but in Latin American literature, writers have generally referred to the continent(s) as America, e.g http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/marti/America.htm http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/marti/America.htm The original map by Waldseemüller has "America" written on it: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Waldseemuller_map_closeup_with_America.jpg/350px-Waldseemuller_map_closeup_with_America.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Wa...
    - dguts 8y ago
      ugh
- mc32 8y ago
  The western hemisphere is the Americas because it's composed of two continents, The North and South American Continents. IIRC from foreign language courses even in Latin American countries they are called 'The Americas'. To me it's similar to the demonym 'New Yorker'. Is that someone from Buffalo, Schenectady, etc., New York or from the five boroughs or from the county of New York, ie, Manhattan? What about Netherlander instead of Dutch since it's a corruption of Deutsch. We could go on about makes sense and what doesn't.
- cafard 8y ago
  It may be irrelevant what anybody said, but it is not irrelevant what lots and lots of people said. For large chunks of the world, "Americans" meant "citizens or residents of the United States of America", long before Hollywood took its first reel of film. > It's no different than if the most powerful European country were to call themselves Europeans alone. Assuming always that it had established itself as the Federal Republic of Europe or some such before anybody else claimed the name.

dgut 8y ago

It's irrelevant what Washington or anybody else said. The common name for the North and South American landmasses is America (note: not Americas). The land between Canada and Mexico has no more rights to that name than the rest of the continent (or continents, depending on what model you prefer). Abroad, Hollywood has popularized the use of "American" to refer to citizens of the USA. Also, most languages don't have any other way to refer to US citizens because of its odd name. I'm only aware of Spanish "estadounidenses". It's no different than if the most powerful European country were to call themselves Europeans alone.

russellbeattie 8y ago
The quote isn't irrelevant to the comment I was responding to, it was an example of its usage hundreds of years ago, loooong before Hollywood. Like I said above, it's a historical artifact, not some brazen attempt at linguistic hegemony. (Sorry, but the Americas is what the continents are called normally - in English at least - did you just make up a new rule? There's even a Wikipedia entry: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas) Regardless, the name for Americans isn't changing any time soon, so I wouldn't get worked up about it. Besides, we are Americans in the most pedantic use of the term - if the Canadians, Mexicans and anyone else in this hemisphere wants to call themselves Americans too, they can go right ahead. They'll just seem petty and silly though.
- liveoneggs 8y ago
  George Washington is a made-up Hollywood figure. Humanity only started around 60 years ago and the rest is just made up movie plots and children's books.
- dgut 8y ago
  Its usage hundreds of years ago inside the US, yes. That's a pretty irrelevant argument for the rest of the remaining countries that are part of America, isn't it? No, the continent(s) have traditionally been called America. A look at Google Ngram Viewer shows that Americas has hardly been used. It's a recent phenomenon, probably a result of the US hijacking "America". Even I feel sometimes compelled to call it "Americas" in Europe because it has become a given that US=America. Not sure about the literature of the US, but in Latin American literature, writers have generally referred to the continent(s) as America, e.g http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/marti/America.htm http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/marti/America.htm The original map by Waldseemüller has "America" written on it: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Waldseemuller_map_closeup_with_America.jpg/350px-Waldseemuller_map_closeup_with_America.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Wa...
  - dguts 8y ago
    ugh
mc32 8y ago
The western hemisphere is the Americas because it's composed of two continents, The North and South American Continents. IIRC from foreign language courses even in Latin American countries they are called 'The Americas'. To me it's similar to the demonym 'New Yorker'. Is that someone from Buffalo, Schenectady, etc., New York or from the five boroughs or from the county of New York, ie, Manhattan? What about Netherlander instead of Dutch since it's a corruption of Deutsch. We could go on about makes sense and what doesn't.
cafard 8y ago
It may be irrelevant what anybody said, but it is not irrelevant what lots and lots of people said. For large chunks of the world, "Americans" meant "citizens or residents of the United States of America", long before Hollywood took its first reel of film. > It's no different than if the most powerful European country were to call themselves Europeans alone. Assuming always that it had established itself as the Federal Republic of Europe or some such before anybody else claimed the name.