What it means to be "American"

The title "American" is very difficult. The question of what it means to be American was raised in class and here is my attempt to answer the question. Being American does not include race, religion, gender, but what I do think it includes is culture. I would say it is the majority of how people act that make the up the American culture. I think that things like Democracy, rights and laws, ect. is the culture of the United States. It's weird that we are called Americans when there is South America and North America: shouldn't we be called North Americans?
I think that Sanjeev and Twinkle can easily describe themselves as Americans because they have followed the American ideals of democracy, following the laws, and even going to college. I would consider higher education an American ideal. Christianity is too hard to throw in the mix because there is no one American faith, so I do not think it can be considered part of the word American, I think I would place it as a subset. But mostly I feel like being American is about the choices that you can make -- isn't America often referred to as the freedom lands?