Where did I get the idea?

The idea sprouted from a racist Russian, honestly. He asked me my nationality. When I told him “American” he said I was wrong. Americans were Indians and I had killed them all. I didn’t remember killing Indians, but the point was clear; he didn’t believe that Americans had a unique identity.

It really took fruit after watching a show about Lord of the Rings where someone said Tolkien wrote it as England’s mythology. Thinking about the Russian I started to consider what America’s mythology looked like.