An American jerked? (6)
I believe the answer is:
yankee
This could be a double definition.
'an american' is the first definition.
(Yankee is an example)
'jerked?' is the second definition.
The answer and definition are different parts of speech. However, past participle verbs and adjectives can sometimes mean the same thing.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for yankee that I've seen before include "A bet on four or more horses in different races" , "Native of Northern US" , "What the Confederates called a 7 from the north" , "A Connecticut - in King Arthur's Court (Twain)" , "A northerner during the American Civil War" .)