Where does America begin? What is American?

I argue America begins with the removal of the Native American’s. It is that point that colonists are able to claim the land as their own and create an American culture.  The use of Native American symbols in government represents a long seated jealousy the colonists had over the Native Americans. This jealousy is referenced several times in Zinn. Powhatan ‘asks’ “Why are you jealous of us?” in a plea to John Smith. It is as if by replacing the natives they felt they had gained some sort of connection to the land and culture before them. They had proved that they could survive in a hostile land, and that made then better than the natives. Not only were they morally superior, but that they also had the power to dominate a land that was initially threatening.