The Rochester Americans (colloquially the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, and a top affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The Americans are one of the oldest franchises in the AHL, celebrating their 50th consecutive season in the American Hockey League in 2005–06.

Rochester was awarded a new franchise in June 1956 when the Pittsburgh Hornets were forced to suspend operations after their arena, the Duquesne Gardens was razed in an urban renewal project. The owner of the Hornets, John H. Harris, held the Pittsburgh franchise in limbo until a new arena could be built. The Hornets re-entered the American Hockey League in 1961-62. All of the records of the Pittsburgh Hornets stayed in Pittsburgh.

The Amerks' team colors are red, white and blue. The logo is a patriotic badge with "Americans" written in cursive script. The Americans have won six Calder Cups: in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1983, 1987 and 1996. They have lost in the Finals ten times: in 1957, 1960, 1967, 1977, 1984, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1999 and 2000.

Americans, or American people, are the citizens of the United States of America. The country is home to people of different national origins. As a result, Americans do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizenship. Aside from the Native American population, nearly all Americans or their ancestors immigrated within the past five centuries.

Despite its multi-ethnic composition, the culture held in common by most Americans is referred to as mainstream American culture, a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of Western European immigrants. It also includes influences of African American culture. Westward expansion integrated the Creoles and Cajuns of Louisiana and the Hispanos of the Southwest and brought close contact with the culture of Mexico. Large-scale immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from Southern and Eastern Europe introduced a variety of elements. Immigration from Asia, Africa, and Latin America has also had impact. A cultural melting pot, or pluralistic salad bowl, describes the way in which generations of Americans have celebrated and exchanged distinctive cultural characteristics.