LIsten to the news, the media, everyday conversation. If someone says “the american people”, ‘American companies’, ‘american politicians’ american culture’, ‘american products’, the ‘american economy’ etc etc they are talking about the United States… Why say Mexican-American, African-American,? What do they mean? They mean people of those descents in THE USA… The usage of American is understood to mean people from the USA,… write America with your keyboard and see the american flag pop up as a suggestion.