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Every nation has some dishes that are associated with it. Sometimes this can be an entire culinary movement or perhaps a collection of ingredients and techniques. It gets a bit more complicated with massive, multicultural countries like, for example, the USA.

Someone asked Americans “What do you consider to be a cultural food of the United States?” and people shared their best examples. From humble PB&Js to multilayered casseroles, netizens covered the entire range. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorite examples, and be sure to share your own thoughts in the comments section below. 

#1

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch on a cold winter day.

[deleted] , senanur ulusoy Report

#2

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Biscuits and gravy, but not just any gravy. Sausage gravy.

JamesGarrison , Michael Kmak Report

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HTakeover
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The catch here is that not many folks (percentage wise) outside of USA understand the goodness of a southern biscuit let alone the white sausage gravy. Bonus points for buttermilk biscuit. So they have no idea just how good it is until they actually try it.

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#3

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine There are a lot of great American foods, but I don't think anything will ever be as quintessentially 'American' as a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise, a side of french fries with ketchup, and a milkshake. This meal right here is the heart and soul of American cuisine.

Estellus , Engin Akyurt Report

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Papa
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In my part of the US if you order a cheeseburger "all the way," it comes with mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, and dill pickles (although I got one once where the cook was Mexican, and it came with jalalpenos also). I've been places where they served them with ketchup, and they didn't even have mayo. That's just wrong.

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#4

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Chocolate chip cookies. I live in the Netherlands now, and they have foods resembling chocolate chip cookies here, but they are mediocre at best. And they call them all 'American cookies' — which I think is hilarious. I once made chocolate chip cookies from scratch and gave some to our Italian neighbors. Watching their faces as they ate them for the first time was amazing. There's nothing like that crispy edge, soft middle, and buttery, chocolaty deliciousness.

afaerieprincess80 , Los Muertos Crew Report

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Pamcakes
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I go to Germany, I bring pounds of nestle chocolate chips for my friend so she can make proper Toll House cookies (aka chocolate chip)

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#5

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine The USA are fierce contenders against mainland Western Europe for the greatest breakfasts in the world. You people are visionaries when it comes to breakfast. Like, chicken and waffles? Who the f**k thought of that? You did, that's who, you beautiful bastards. It shouldn't work, but by god, it does. And steak and eggs? Who the f**k eats steak in the morning? THIS GUY, THAT'S WHO. I LIKE YOUR STYLE, AMERICA.

anon , Alpha Report

#6

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine I was grocery shopping recently when a very nice German guy approached me for advice. He had friends coming to visit from his home country and he wanted to introduce them to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and could I advise him on the best ingredients? He already had some kind of b******t artisan bread from the bakery department in his cart. I told him to put that back, go to the bread aisle and get the crappy white Wonder Bread. Then there was discussion about the merits of Welch’s grape jelly vs. strawberry jam, and how most big brand peanut butter is optimal as opposed to the oily natural kind. Lastly he learned to use the term “PB & J.” He went away delighted, and it felt great to be a cultural ambassador!

DukexNukemx007 replied:
Cheap and mass-produced PB&J is an American staple, and eating one is part of the cultural experience of living in the US. From sea to shining sea, we all, at some point, ate a Walmart-tier PB&J.

RedBattery , Freddy G Report

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Shelby Moonheart
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

While in Paris, France we introduced a British guy to peanut butter. We'd find him in the kitchen eating big spoonfuls.

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#7

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Ranch dressing. Anything you dip in ranch dressing is American by baptism.

slabby , Mike Mozart Report

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Lotekguy
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Upvote for the image of culinary baptism. Dunk them carrot sticks, dude!

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#8

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Buffalo wings, s'mores, biscuits and gravy, grits, jambalaya, BBQ, apple pie, Chocolate chip cookies, Jerky, meatloaf, cornbread.

Drife1994 , Meraj Kazi Report

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#9

Oh my god so many things. Popcorn, peanut butter and jelly, turkey, Caesar salad, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie, soda, breakfast cereal, sure.

But also pizza, lasagna, French fries, hamburgers, tacos, nachos, jambalaya, fried chicken, barbecue, apple pie, egg foo young, sweet and sour chicken, pancakes, omelettes, hot dogs, doughnuts, bourbon whiskey, bagels, grits, clam bakes and fish poke.

“Hold up”, you say, “most of that second list is bastardized versions of other countries’ cultural foods, and I’m not really sure about all the stuff in the first list either. You even included some indigenous peoples’ dishes!”

Exactly. **The hallmark of American cuisine is borrowing, adapting, and combining stuff from cultures around the world to make our own unique food landscape.** You claim chicken adobo as your unique national dish? That’s great, Americans are gonna put it on a pizza.

And let’s be clear: every country does this. Italy didn’t invent noodles, or tomato sauce. Vindaloo is borrowed from Portugal, massaman curry isn’t originally Thai. Every old-world dish that contains tomatoes, potatoes, corn, or peanuts was invented after these ingredients arrived from the Americas.

But American cuisine is defined by its variety and its willingness to be inspired by and combine foods from the whole world.

You wanna know what makes America great? We’re the land of the kalbi taco, spam musubi, the kimchi quesadilla and the tandoori pierogi.

Okay I just invented tandoori pierogi for this post, but now I want one. And that’s the point.

agate_ Report

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#11

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Creole food like jambalaya and gumbo. This cuisine is arguably the most truly 'American.' Aside from a handful of cooking techniques taken from the French, the dishes are really unique.

Cajundawg replied:
Cajun and Creole cooking. It's a derivative of French cooking, but it's so far removed now that it's a unique cuisine. You're not getting boiled crawfish made properly anywhere outside of southern Louisiana.

greygringo , Swift Benjamin Report

#12

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Chicken fried steak.

Yes I know some of you are going to say “what about German schnitzel?” … IT IS NOT THE SAME AND YOU KNOW IT.

The size of a dinner plate and served with white gravy.

raygan , Kevin Report

#13

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Tex-Mex - it’s not Mexican food but rather a Texas creation that extends even to fajitas and margaritas

A214Guy , Matheus Bertelli Report

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LeighAnne Brown-Pedersen
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ok my myopic cultural narrow mind was widened by ‘Mexican’ food. Mexico is a big country, with cultural regions and different tastes and people. Northern Mexican, pacific coast, central Mexico, etc. like the entirety of US, there are regional flavors to be discovered.

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#14

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Americanized Chinese food. Even while living in Asia, I would crave General Tso's chicken and honey walnut shrimp because it's just not the same abroad.

AppHelper replied:
Americanized Chinese food, and specifically East Coast Chinese food. Stuff like General Tso's chicken, egg rolls, egg drop soup, oily, soy sauce–laden lo mein, beef and broccoli, and fortune cookies. Funny enough, this stuff doesn't exist in Asia. I was so happy to see that an American Chinese restaurant opened in Shanghai, but it closed down.

kanelflixka , Janine Beth Salazar Report

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Javelina Poppers
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to go to a floating market on the Chao Phraya in Ayutthaya Thailand in the 70s. I would get fresh spring rolls with ginger sauce from a little lady in a dugout canoe with a charcoal grill. I've never found any since then that tasted as wonderful as hers.

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#15

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Chili. It’s based on New World ingredients, every region of the US has its own variation, families have their own recipes, and internet wars have been fought over how to define 'real' chili. (Most of us can agree that Cincinnati is wrong.) We’ve mass-produced it, added it to fast food, and made it even worse for you by adding tons of cheese and pouring it over fries.

swamp-hag , micheile henderson Report

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#16

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Mac 'n' cheese. My non-American wife first thought it was called 'mecan cheese,' which she assumed was short for American cheese. She had never seen the word in writing before, and I'd often talk about how I missed my mom's homemade mac.

Sensitive_Pickle247 , Hermes Rivera Report

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Stephen Taylor
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What is pictured is not proper mac and cheese! The proper stuff is baked in a casserole and topped with real shredded cheddar.

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#17

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Clam chowder — specifically, white chowda, and none of this red sauce shenanigans. And lobstah, of course. I know it's a global food at this point, but the best lobster in the world is from New England (mostly Maine), and wow, is it good.

OVERLYLOUDCOMMERCIAL , Trình Minh Thư Report

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JuniorCJ82
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What in the holy hell is that in that picture? It looks like baby clams next to a bowl of Velveeta.

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#18

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine As someone not from the states I would k**l to try a peach cobbler or a pumpkin pie 

DukeOfPoose , cottonbro studio Report

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#20

Was recently in Prague and a local guy told me that the most American food to him was a corndog and that is probably the right answer.

thegardenhead Report

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Suck it Trebek
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Corn dog, Chicago Dog, Chili dog, and just plain hot dogs. All American all the way!

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#21

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine The Cuban sandwich - originated in Tampa Bay.

OhSeesOhMees , Joel Sowers Report

#22

Truck stop/diner/greasy-spoon breakfast. Doesn't matter what you order and if you're somewhere in the mid-west- even better.

Or, if you ever find yourself in a church basement in Minnesota after an event, you will know the authentic, All-American comfort of many kinds of salads with no lettuce, dessert bars, and hotdishes.

These, and the sing-song accents of grammas and grampas, are what I missed the most living abroad.

Rayraydavies Report

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JP Doyle
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh my... Two sunny side eggs over a plate of corned beef hash with hash brown potatos and toast. With a dollop of ketchup on the hash browns. YUM!

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#23

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Tater tots

tdly3000 , Gonzalo Mendiola Report

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MalP
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

a local place has 'twice baked mashed potato deep fried tater tots'. So unhealthy and so good. Or a couple food trucks have rosemary-garlic tater tots....

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#24

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Fried Chicken. It's a combination of a Scottish cooking style where they fried unseasoned food in Lard and west African seasonings.

kilertree , Yanuar Putut Widjanarko Report

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Rob
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is just a stereotype that they'll deep fry anything in Scotland... No evidence whatsoever on that, as shown on this section of menu from a chip shop in Inverness! M1-6576e41f90e91.jpg M1-6576e41f90e91.jpg

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#25

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Barbecue.

Pizza and burgers may be more commonly eaten here, but they're really adaptations of food from Europe. Brisket, ribs, or pulled pork, slow cooked in a pit smoker and smothered in barbecue sauce, are more American in origin, and extraordinarily delicious.

There are lots of regional variations too. Mostly a result of what resources were available (ie, it's smoked with whatever wood is readily available in that region), but now they are a strong point of regional pride, and the topic of endless "which region has the best BBQ" debates. (I'm a fan of Memphis style, myself, but it's all good.)

Renmauzuo , Pixabay Report

#26

Louisiana boiled crawfish and crabs.

vzwire Report

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#27

Popcorn. Who can see a movie without it? It was first made by Native Americans.

sirensong150 Report

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Happy Homemaker
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you make popcorn at home, get some Flavacol from Amazon. It’s a popcorn salt that makes your popcorn taste like movie theater popcorn. I highly recommend it.

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#28

Buffalo wings, which were invented and perfected in Buffalo, New York. This creation has no roots in any other countries.

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#29

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Betty Crocker recipes. Betty defined the classic middle American dinner for decades. Think: chicken breasts topped with provolone slices, covered in cream of chicken soup, then covered with stuffing mix and butter and baked at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

3SquirrelsinaCoat , 1950sUnlimited Report

#30

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine fried oreo's from the state fair. Pretty much anything deep fried at the state fair is American culture.

Musician-Round , hspauldi Report

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#31

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Midwestern-style casserole, specifically one made with at least a can of Campbell’s cream of chicken, vegetable, or mushroom soup as a main ingredient.

eleanor61 , Jonathan Pielmayer Report

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Megan Curl
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My MIL was from the Midwest, and did not have a single non dessert recipe that didn’t contain a can of Campbells, and all desert recipes contained a container of Cool Whip.

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#32

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Blueberry pie. Or anything with blueberries since they originated in North America.

YooperScooper3000 , Eva Andreeva Report

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Wingsofwrath
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ok, to clear up the confusion, "blueberries" in Europe are normally small, black in colour and grow on a low shrub, while the US ones are big, actually blue and grow on a tall bush. Currently, farms on both sides of the Atlantic mainly cultivate the US ones because they're easier to care for, and more profitable, so that's the ones you find in supermarkets, but there are people stil gathering wild native berries so you can still find them at farmer's markets instead.

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#33

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine S'mores. I've traveled the world, and no one knows what s'mores are besides Americans.

decehod235 , Kindel Media Report

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Lee
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Um, I live in Scotland and the store across the road from my home has s'mores kits.

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#34

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Fluffernutter sandwiches, which is peanut butter and fluff. Just make sure you get the real Marshmallow Fluff and not a knockoff.

tacknosaddle , Chris Tucker Mear Report

#35

I was recently in Tokyo and came across a place called Bubby's American Cookery. Their special was meatloaf wrapped in bacon, so I guess that says it best.

Heroic_Dave Report

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Suck it Trebek
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Mmmmmm bacon wrapped meatloaf with a big helping of mashed potatoes.

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#36

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine Shrimp and Grits Nashville style Fried Chicken Texas BBQ Carolina BBQ Kansas City BBQ Memphis BBQ NY Style Pizza Po Boys Jambalaya/Gumbo Hotdish Ambrosia Salad Clam Chowder Manhatten Clam Stew (it is not a chowder) Conch Fritters Chicago style Brownies Chicago style Italian beef Philly style chopped steak and cheese (NJ and DE have pretty good ones too) Beef on Kimmelweck with creamy horseradish sauce Lobstah Rolls (Maine only, every other one sucks) Maryland crab cakes Tex-mex style everything Chicago Deep Dish Pizza Chicago style hot dogs Texas style corn dogs Bagels with Lox (smear optional but I never get one without it) 

anon , Cayobo Report

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#37

Fried chicken, smoked meat barbecue, soul food, Cajun and creole food

mzmammy Report

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#38

Soul food

Safe-Refrigerator333 Report

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#39

Pecan pie

Biscuits and gravy

Submarine sandwiches

Corn pie

Scrapple

Deep dish pizza

wistfulmaiden Report

#40

This Is America: 30 Foods That Scream American Cuisine I think, as a non American, Italian-American and Tex-Mex are two that are found all over the US and now the world. Spaghetti meat sauce, non bechamel lasagna, deli style pizza: chili con carne, loaded nachos, etc.

Other dishes that may be more regional just aren't found everywhere even in the US.

OLAZ3000 , Geraud pfeiffer Report

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Lee
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Non bechamel lasagna? I never knew such a thing existed. What is used instead of bechamel in an American lasagne?

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#42

Grilled Cheese

Especially with Kraft American Singles

VictoryaChase Report

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Beth H
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't know. An old school grilled cheese with American cheese and white bread is super comforting.

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#43

Breakfast Cereal (especially the sugary kind) seems very American to me.

Successful-Income-22 Report

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Rob
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11 months ago

This comment has been deleted.

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#44

General Tso’s Chicken.

Practical_Argument50 Report

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Michael Largey
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When they served this at the school where I taught, kids would be lined up for it out into the hallway, We called them General Tso's Army.

#45

The fried pork tenderloin sandwich.

anon Report

#46

Carolina Sauce replaced the actual blood in my body years ago and I’m still kickin.

2fardownrange Report

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#47

Apple pie

squaredistrict2213 Report

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Lee
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not American but brought to America by British settlers.

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