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All South Americans I know call it South America and do not consider themselves American.
However, I do consider all countries in North and South America part of the Americas.
Americas is not a continent, it's a combined landmass of both continents. There is no continent that takes almost all of the northern and southern hemisphere. Panama is the last country in the continent North America and you can't go from Panama to Colombia by car.
And if you don't understand why people are angry with someone trying to steal their nationality they have had for over 200 years, than nothing else can be said.
I don't think anyone is trying to steal your nationality. We are talking about a semantic dispute.
Whether you think it is correct or not, Spanish textbooks having been saying for centuries that "The Americas" was a name given to the entire new world, in honor of a man who made three voyages to South America and the Caribbean. So by definition an "American" should be someone who lives in "The Americas". http://www.english-online.at/history...spucci_map.jpg
The implication is that the USA "stole the name".
The people of the United States of America used both the abbreviation "America" for their country and American for it's people before any other independent countries existed. It seems to have been the norm by 1800. I doubt they even considered that they "stealing a name".
In 1821 the United States of Mexico chose their name because (believe it or not) the new leaders greatly admired the United States of America. That relationship soured within 15 years with the Texas Revolution and the Battle of the Alamo.
I don't think anyone is trying to steal your nationality. We are talking about a semantic dispute.
Whether you think it is correct or not, Spanish textbooks having been saying for centuries that "The Americas" was a name given to the entire new world, in honor of a man who made three voyages to South America and the Caribbean. So by definition an "American" should be someone who lives in "The Americas". http://www.english-online.at/history...spucci_map.jpg
The implication is that the USA "stole the name".
The people of the United States of America used both the abbreviation "America" for their country and American for it's people before any other independent countries existed. It seems to have been the norm by 1800. I doubt they even considered that they "stealing a name".
In 1821 the United States of Mexico chose their name because (believe it or not) the new leaders greatly admired the United States of America. That relationship soured within 15 years with the Texas Revolution and the Battle of the Alamo.
Do those Spanish textbooks also teach then that America is the second largest continent after Asia? If it were one continent it certain would be despite the fact that it's understood the world over that Africa is second largest.
Do those Spanish textbooks also teach then that America is the second largest continent after Asia? If it were one continent it certain would be despite the fact that it's understood the world over that Africa is second largest.
It was was common in the United States until World War II, to teach that the world has 6 continents, and "The Americas" was the second largest continent. In the USA the 7 continent view is now universal.
Some Asian countries still teach the six-continent model, but it remains the more common to teach America as single continent in Latin American countries, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Greece,.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gentoo
This just keeps getting better.
You are clearly intellectually superior to everyone in these countries. Here is a French map, so that you can illustrate how dumb they are. Point to Panama and tell them that only an idiot could fail to see that this is a continental break. They will soon come to see your wisdom. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fhfXl38syi...t_oceans-2.jpg
I don't think anyone is trying to steal your nationality. We are talking about a semantic dispute.
Whether you think it is correct or not, Spanish textbooks having been saying for centuries that "The Americas" was a name given to the entire new world, in honor of a man who made three voyages to South America and the Caribbean. So by definition an "American" should be someone who lives in "The Americas". http://www.english-online.at/history...spucci_map.jpg
The implication is that the USA "stole the name".
The people of the United States of America used both the abbreviation "America" for their country and American for it's people before any other independent countries existed. It seems to have been the norm by 1800. I doubt they even considered that they "stealing a name".
In 1821 the United States of Mexico chose their name because (believe it or not) the new leaders greatly admired the United States of America. That relationship soured within 15 years with the Texas Revolution and the Battle of the Alamo.
It's not just 'semantics' when someone is calling themselves American and saying they are from America, and they are not. Only one country's citizens can factually say that. Again, there is NO CONTINENT called AMERICA. At best someone can say they are South American or North American. NEVER AMERICAN or from America. So to try to claim that is either complete ignorance of what COUNTRIES and CONTINENTS are, or IDENTITY THEFT.
TWO SEPARATE CONTINENTS.
United States of America is a sovereign country, and has been for over 200 years.
You are trying to defend the un-defendable. You can't make something right that is just FACTUALLY wrong; even if it is in a text book.
And if this comes back up in another 10 years as you said then; a) it shows that noone would have corrected the factually incorrect teaching in text books that there are 6 continents instead of the factual 7, and nobody told them what the factual names of what those 7 DIFFERENT CONTINENTS are. Again, AMERICA IS NOT A CONTINENT b) that there are still radicals trying to steal the identity of a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONTINENT and combine it as one with theirs, and also a COUNTRY that is NOT theirs.
Whether it will be 'a or b' or a combination of the two, it's really sad.
Do those Spanish textbooks also teach then that America is the second largest continent after Asia? If it were one continent it certain would be despite the fact that it's understood the world over that Africa is second largest.
This just keeps getting better.
Of course they teach that. Why wouldn't they teach that it is not the second largest continent? Why would be the logical explanation? Again they were not teaching these things because they have an agenda. It's just the way people name that region in Spanish. Mexico is different because they share a border with the US so they have always been more aware of what happens here in the US.
I never knew until I moved to the US that US Americans called themselves "Americans". It never crossed my mind that "United Statian" sounded awkward because I had better things to do with my time that worrying about some random people who lived 2,000 miles away called themselves. It's just a different region and they have their own culture. They don't grow up watching the same TV you do because TV shows get translated. They don't go to the same schools you do or socialize with the same people you do. How can you expect them to know everything about your world? The average US American lives the same way, they live in their own world. They don't worry about people they never see or deal with.
It's not just 'semantics' when someone is calling themselves American and saying they are from America, and they are not. Only one country's citizens can factually say that. Again, there is NO CONTINENT called AMERICA. At best someone can say they are South American or North American. NEVER AMERICAN or from America. So to try to claim that is either complete ignorance of what COUNTRIES and CONTINENTS are, or IDENTITY THEFT.
TWO SEPARATE CONTINENTS.
United States of America is a sovereign country, and has been for over 200 years.
You are trying to defend the un-defendable. You can't make something right that is just FACTUALLY wrong; even if it is in a text book.
And if this comes back up in another 10 years as you said then; a) it shows that noone would have corrected the factually incorrect teaching in text books that there are 6 continents instead of the factual 7, and nobody told them what the factual names of what those 7 DIFFERENT CONTINENTS are. Again, AMERICA IS NOT A CONTINENT b) that there are still radicals trying to steal the identity of a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONTINENT and combine it as one with theirs, and also a COUNTRY that is NOT theirs.
Whether it will be 'a or b' or a combination of the two, it's really sad.
Just to be pedantic, the U.S. government does not call its citizens Americans...anywhere. They are U.S. Citizens, or citizens of the United States. The only time the word America even appears is in the full formal name of the country, the United States of America.
So common usage, and "facts" don't always agree. Common usage says you're 'mercan. Facts say otherwise.
United States of America is a sovereign country, and has been for over 200 years.
You are trying to defend the un-defendable. You can't make something right that is just FACTUALLY wrong; even if it is in a text book.
that there are still radicals trying to steal the identity of a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONTINENT and combine it as one with theirs, and also a COUNTRY that is NOT theirs.
United States of America is a sovereign country, and has been for over 200 years. No one is arguing that point.
I tell you that dozens of nations in Europe, Latin America, and Asia teach a six continent model, and your only response is "You can't make something right that is just FACTUALLY wrong; even if it is in a text book." What are these FACTS? They are not FACTS, they are cultural viewpoints.
How difficult is to believe that different cultures have a different view of the world?
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeyyc
The U.S. government does not call its citizens Americans...anywhere.
That is because the US government doesn't like to offend other cultures if NOTHING is at stake.
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