Americans consider themselves Americans, but especially in the early days of the melting pot, cultural identity, and specifically that heritage was important. That’s why Americans are always saying they are Irish or Italian or whatever. The actual people from those countries laugh or get defensive about Americans who have never left the US claiming that heritage, but there’s a reason behind it.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult your intelligence in any way. Just trying to have a friendly chat also. Sometimes tone can come across wrong in text. My bad