THE AMERICAN STOCK


In the history of a word we may frequently find a fragment, sometimes
a large section, of universal history. This is exemplified in the term
American, a name which, in the phrase of George Washington, "must
always exalt the pride of patriotism" and which today is proudly borne
by a hundred million people. There is no obscurity about the origin of
the name America. It was suggested for the New World in 1507 by Martin
Waldseemüller, a German geographer at the French college of Saint-Dié.
In that year this savant printed a tract, with a map of the world or
_mappemonde_, recognizing the dubious claims of discovery set up by
Amerigo Vespucci and naming the new continent after him. At first
applied only to South America, the name was afterwards extended to
mean the northern continent as well; and in time the whole New World,
from the Frozen Ocean to the Land of Fire, came to be called America.

Inevitably the people who achieved a preponderating influence in the
new continent came to be called Americans. Today the name American
everywhere signifies belonging to the United States, and a citizen of
that country is called an American. This unquestionably is
geographically anomalous, for the neighbors of the United States, both
north and south, may claim an equal share in the term. Ethnically, the
only real Americans are the Indian descendants of the aboriginal
races. But it is futile to combat universal usage: the World War has
clinched the name upon the inhabitants of the United States. The
American army, the American navy, American physicians and nurses,
American food and clothing--these are phrases with a definite
geographical and ethnic meaning which neither academic ingenuity nor
race rivalry can erase from the memory of mankind.