What does American heritage or nationality essentially mean????????

Question:i was wondering because when i was looking at the ethnicities of the usa they have most of all ethnicities then one categorized as "american" which appears to pop up particularly in the south. does this mean that thoughs peoples ancestors were the first to come when the colonies started?

please i need help thank you

here is a link which shows this "american" ethnicity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Censu...

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: i was wondering because when i was looking at the ethnicities of the usa they have most of all ethnicities then one categorized as "american" which appears to pop up particularly in the south. does this mean that thoughs peoples ancestors were the first to come when the colonies started?

please i need help thank you

here is a link which shows this "american" ethnicity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Censu...

Nationality is the country of which you are a citizen.

Ethnicity is formally defined as having or originating from racial, linguistic and/or cultural ties with a specific group.

Note "specific group". What is defined as ethnic group is wide open....really depends on what the purpose of the "definers" are. And they change all the time.

Just look at the Federal Census. The "official" ethnic categories for the census are:

1930 - Asian, Black, Chamorro, Chinese, Filipeno, Hawaiian, Japanese, Latino, Native American, Polynesian, Portuguese and White.

1920 - Asian, Black, Chamorro, Chinese, Filipeno, Hawaiian, Japanese, Latino, Mulatto, Native American, Octoroon, Polynesian and White.

1910 - Arab, Black, Chinese, Colored, Cuban, Filipeno, Greek, Hawaiian, Hindu, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Mexican, Mulatto, Negro, Polynesian, Puerto Rican, Samoan, Spanish, White

This shows the point. An ethnic group is any group that can meet the definition given above. You could claim your ethnic group was European, British Isles, Scottish, or some clan. As long as that "group" has or originated from racial, linguistic and/or cultural ties.

So your nationality is the country of which you are a citizen and ethnicity is really anything you want it to be as long as you have some racial, linguistic or cultural ties to the group.

That means they didn't claim a particular ethnic background when the census taker came around. People of English descent mainly or maybe african American. They didn't designate whether their ancestors were French, Dutch, German, Tagalog, or even African. They just said American.

If you are a citizen of the U. S, your nationality is American. Your ethnicities might be varied. Most of us are mutts.

I have an ancestor that was on the 2nd supply to Jamestown (that was before the Mayflower). I also have ancestors that were here already to greet all the newcomers when they arrived from Europe back then.

However, if a person made a naturalized American citizen today, their nationality is American just as much as mine is.