The phenomenon of claiming "American" as one's ancestry seems to be very widespread in the South, border states, and Appalachia:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.jpgI'm assuming these are the descendants of early settlers. If that's the case, then why do New Englanders more typically identify as "English"? Did more scots and scots-irish settle in the south? Is the American ethnic group basically what the Aussies refer to as "Anglo-Celtic"?
