One thing I'd like to add about the 'American' discussion, that maybe someone outside the US might not know, is that there's a huge importance placed on individual states (and not just symbolically). And so we've all got designations depending on where you're from. So I'd consider myself a 'Hoosier' before an 'American', and an Earthling above all that. :-)

It could perhaps be likened to saying a German is a European, or a Swede is a Scandinavian.