Probably literally meant people from the US. In English, standard usage assumes "America" to mean "USA", and references to the region are referred to as "the Am

Probably literally meant people from the US. In English, standard usage assumes "America" to mean "USA", and references to the region are referred to as "the Americas" (plural), with the north/central/south regions being considered largely separate. There's very little value in referencing the majority of the residents of the western hemisphere as "Americans", as there's really nothing they have in common beyond that.