"Nor is it news that many have long regarded Americans as, shall we say, not quite our class."
In the 1700s it was a commonly held belief amongst many of the European elite that the "primitive" state of North America rendered all aspects of the continent "primitive" and less developed when compared to Europe. The theory pointed to the indian tribes and us uncooth colonists as proof of our indigent state. The reasoning went that even the plants and animals of North America were inferior to their counterparts in Europe. European deer, for instance, would be larger and healthier than deer in the colonies. The same went for horses, squirels, fish, etc.
Of course, we now know that the Europeans who held this belief were simply full of themselves.
This is where our own liberal elites stand, as well. Euro-weenie wannabes.