Why would some Americans get confused by the concepts of a nation and a state?

Do you have examples? I don't get what you're asking.Why would some Americans get confused by the concepts of a nation and a state?
A nation is composed of many states just like the United Kingdom.





A state is an independent group of people permantly residing in a territory with a government of their own just like England which is one of the states comprising the United Kingdom.Why would some Americans get confused by the concepts of a nation and a state?
Americans can't handle paper or plastic, you expect us the master civics?!?
Because the United States of America considers a state to be a political subdivision of the country, while in the rest of the world, a state is a sovereign nation.
Well when I was younger this is why I got confused:


The word nation sounds like the word national. The word national sounds like the word international. When I was younger, I knew that interational students came from other countries so from this reasoning I thought that the word nation ment all over the world. I was never confused by the concept of a state.
Beats me. I didn't know there was confusion. Glad to help.
We Americans only know the important stuff, like, what time the mall closes.
When you say a state to me, I think you are talking about Washington, Montana, Maine, New York, etc.





But when you say a nation, I will think of countries like Russia, Japan, Canada, and so forth.
hey you up there what is 'maths' and stuff
Because they're not smart enough, at least not as smart as the africans who invented geometry, maths and had other great discoveries
You may want to elaborate a little more, considering we are all residents of a particular state, which is a part of a nation.