Antedating of "North American"

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Fri, Jul 18, 2003 at 01:24:12PM -0400, Fred Shapiro wrote:
> North American (OED noun 1766, adj. 1770)
>
> 1746 _Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the
> Province of Pennsylvania_ (Evans Digital Edition) 40  And this shews what
> Returns of Duty and Gratitude are due to a King who has meditated such
> Blessings to his _North-American_ Subjects.

OED now has a 1683 example of the adjective.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED