I disagree and I'll get back to you with evidence...
How come German is not the Official language of the USA?
Well, you aren't entirely correct, but neither am I. This seems to be a fair representation of the the situation on the ground:
"Regarding German in the U.S.: Karl J.R. Arndt wrote the definitive article on this, which can be found in his THE GERMAN LANGUAGE PRESS OF THE AMERICAS, vol. 3 (1980).
In 1794, the Virginia Germans petitioned Congress to print laws in German, but this was sent to a committee where it died - this was done a second time with the same result. The speaker of the House, F.A.C. Muehlenberg, was afraid to support the measure for political reasons - at that time nativism ran quite high due to the anti-immigrant sentiment resulting from the horrors emanating from the French Revolution. Muehlenberg, concerned about his own position as Speaker of the House, remained neutral on the petition, which, hence, died in the committee. It never came to the full House for a vote.
In 1828, a motion was submitted in the Pennsylvania State Legislature to make German co-equal with English - this failed by one vote. This vote is often confused with the 1790s petition, as one which was up for a national vote.
Although these petitions and motions were not passed, it should be noted that the Federal and state governments beginning during the American Revolution and to this day print official documents in German, as well as in other languages. This began with the Articles of Confederation during the Revolution. Also, the printing of German-language broadsides was also adopted during the Revolution. German-language printing is still being done by the Federal Government for distribution at national parks, monuments, and institutions, such as the Library of Congress. Various states issue German documents, for example, the state of Illinois publishes a drivers manual in German. At the city level, numerous cities published in German, for example, the city of Cincinnati.
Hence, German from the beginning of the country has been a language that has been sanctioned and approved for the printing and publication of documents. However, Congress and no state has ever voted and passed a petition to make German "the" national language. Even the 1820s Pennsylvania motion was to make German "co-equal" with English. German-American never advocated it be "the" national language - at the most, it was desired to make it "co-equal" with English. That failing, they opted for obtaining documents printed in German. They also in the 19th century shifted their focus to the establishment of bi-lingual public school programs, which lasted down to WWI, when German was declared illegal in 26 states of the Union.
"Regarding German in the U.S.: Karl J.R. Arndt wrote the definitive article on this, which can be found in his THE GERMAN LANGUAGE PRESS OF THE AMERICAS, vol. 3 (1980).
In 1794, the Virginia Germans petitioned Congress to print laws in German, but this was sent to a committee where it died - this was done a second time with the same result. The speaker of the House, F.A.C. Muehlenberg, was afraid to support the measure for political reasons - at that time nativism ran quite high due to the anti-immigrant sentiment resulting from the horrors emanating from the French Revolution. Muehlenberg, concerned about his own position as Speaker of the House, remained neutral on the petition, which, hence, died in the committee. It never came to the full House for a vote.
In 1828, a motion was submitted in the Pennsylvania State Legislature to make German co-equal with English - this failed by one vote. This vote is often confused with the 1790s petition, as one which was up for a national vote.
Although these petitions and motions were not passed, it should be noted that the Federal and state governments beginning during the American Revolution and to this day print official documents in German, as well as in other languages. This began with the Articles of Confederation during the Revolution. Also, the printing of German-language broadsides was also adopted during the Revolution. German-language printing is still being done by the Federal Government for distribution at national parks, monuments, and institutions, such as the Library of Congress. Various states issue German documents, for example, the state of Illinois publishes a drivers manual in German. At the city level, numerous cities published in German, for example, the city of Cincinnati.
Hence, German from the beginning of the country has been a language that has been sanctioned and approved for the printing and publication of documents. However, Congress and no state has ever voted and passed a petition to make German "the" national language. Even the 1820s Pennsylvania motion was to make German "co-equal" with English. German-American never advocated it be "the" national language - at the most, it was desired to make it "co-equal" with English. That failing, they opted for obtaining documents printed in German. They also in the 19th century shifted their focus to the establishment of bi-lingual public school programs, which lasted down to WWI, when German was declared illegal in 26 states of the Union.
I was not saying that there was not a good sized amount of German settlement in the colonies (there definitely was such, even though it was primarily localized around Pennsylvania), and I was not denying that German-language material has been printed by various governments in the US over the years, but I was just disagreeing with the statement that it outweighed non-German settlement and that German almost became a *national* language (which is a common myth).
"Et toi, tu captes que ce site est *P*L*U*R*I*L*I*N*G*U*E* ?" \
Hmmm...That's somewhat true. Certainly we have threads almost entirely in French or Spanish and some are mixed.
Hmmm...That's somewhat true. Certainly we have threads almost entirely in French or Spanish and some are mixed.
When the US was drafting which language would they adopt as the national and official language shortly after independence, German lost to English by just 1 vote. The reasons why German was one the options were large number of German immigrants who outnumber the English settlers then and they are very influential plus the numerous petty German speaking states that existed at that time before the unification which had ties with the US(13 colonies).
Other languages that were considered were Classical Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.
Other languages that were considered were Classical Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.
<< When the US was drafting which language would they adopt as the national and official language shortly after independence, German lost to English by just 1 vote. >>
You didn't read Earle's post (a couple posts above yours), did you?
You didn't read Earle's post (a couple posts above yours), did you?
Right, the United States does not have an official language de jure.
English is de facto an official language of the US though.
English is de facto an official language of the US though.
@greg
LOL - Since when this site is really multilingual?
Write in a langauge other English, French or Spanish and your post will be deleted ASAP by some idiotic moderators from the US
LOL - Since when this site is really multilingual?
Write in a langauge other English, French or Spanish and your post will be deleted ASAP by some idiotic moderators from the US
<< You didn't read Earle's post (a couple posts above yours), did you? >>
I read it. But what I was trying to say is German lost to English by just 1 vote.
I read it. But what I was trying to say is German lost to English by just 1 vote.
>>
When the US was drafting which language would they adopt as the national and official language shortly after independence, German lost to English by just 1 vote. The reasons why German was one the options were large number of German immigrants who outnumber the English settlers then and they are very influential plus the numerous petty German speaking states that existed at that time before the unification which had ties with the US(13 colonies).
Other languages that were considered were Classical Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. <<
But that's simply ridiculous. Even if they declared Classical Greek the official language of the US, everyone would go on speaking English anyway. I mean do you honestly think that everyone (especially the peasants) would start learning a very difficult foreign language made more difficult because there are no native speakers of it, because the government declared it the "official language"? Come on, guys. What a preposterous idea. Even though the country doesn't have an official language to this day, haven't you noticed that the US is an English speaking country? The only other language with a large percentage of speakers (although concentrated in a single region of the country, influencing the rest of the country very little) is Spanish, and this is only because of massive immigration from Mexico. If immigration from Mexico were stopped, after about 50 years they would be assimilated completely into the English speaking people. The US was colonized by the British, and inherits the language and culture from the parent country in the same way as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand do. I can't understand how people think that you can just arbitrarily decide to force people to switch languages just become someone comes up with the crazy idea to make Classical Greek, or German, or any other foreign language the so-called "official language". Even if they declared Quechua the official language, it wouldn't change the fact the the US is an English country.
When the US was drafting which language would they adopt as the national and official language shortly after independence, German lost to English by just 1 vote. The reasons why German was one the options were large number of German immigrants who outnumber the English settlers then and they are very influential plus the numerous petty German speaking states that existed at that time before the unification which had ties with the US(13 colonies).
Other languages that were considered were Classical Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. <<
But that's simply ridiculous. Even if they declared Classical Greek the official language of the US, everyone would go on speaking English anyway. I mean do you honestly think that everyone (especially the peasants) would start learning a very difficult foreign language made more difficult because there are no native speakers of it, because the government declared it the "official language"? Come on, guys. What a preposterous idea. Even though the country doesn't have an official language to this day, haven't you noticed that the US is an English speaking country? The only other language with a large percentage of speakers (although concentrated in a single region of the country, influencing the rest of the country very little) is Spanish, and this is only because of massive immigration from Mexico. If immigration from Mexico were stopped, after about 50 years they would be assimilated completely into the English speaking people. The US was colonized by the British, and inherits the language and culture from the parent country in the same way as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand do. I can't understand how people think that you can just arbitrarily decide to force people to switch languages just become someone comes up with the crazy idea to make Classical Greek, or German, or any other foreign language the so-called "official language". Even if they declared Quechua the official language, it wouldn't change the fact the the US is an English country.
K.T.: "The prestige of the German language during WWI and WWII was very bad." (Corrections of the article are mine.)
I think this is the MAIN reason"
I don't think so. WWI and anti-German feelings accelerated the decline of German only by a tiny margin. Swedish and Italian or Polish underwent the same process at the same time and dwindled at just the same pace.
There was a sort of general patriotic hysteria in the early 20th century about national languages. Though America wasn't at war with France, French schools were outlawed in Louisiana in 1916, teaching of French was forbidden and English was made mandatory.
Of course similar phenomenons took place in the same period in France like everywhere — schoolmasters were supposed to make pupils forget their native dialects/languages and make them future soldiers able to equally obey orders given in one national language.
I think this is the MAIN reason"
I don't think so. WWI and anti-German feelings accelerated the decline of German only by a tiny margin. Swedish and Italian or Polish underwent the same process at the same time and dwindled at just the same pace.
There was a sort of general patriotic hysteria in the early 20th century about national languages. Though America wasn't at war with France, French schools were outlawed in Louisiana in 1916, teaching of French was forbidden and English was made mandatory.
Of course similar phenomenons took place in the same period in France like everywhere — schoolmasters were supposed to make pupils forget their native dialects/languages and make them future soldiers able to equally obey orders given in one national language.
>>I don't think so. WWI and anti-German feelings accelerated the decline of German only by a tiny margin. Swedish and Italian or Polish underwent the same process at the same time and dwindled at just the same pace.<<
The matter is that in places like here in the Milwaukee area, there were things like schools where German was taught and newspapers in German, which would have helped sustain German in the long run here, and it is these which were largely suppressed during WW1 and not reinstated after it.
The matter is that in places like here in the Milwaukee area, there were things like schools where German was taught and newspapers in German, which would have helped sustain German in the long run here, and it is these which were largely suppressed during WW1 and not reinstated after it.
"German is not the official language of the United States for the simple reason that the country was officially colonized by England."
It was originally colonised by Britain, not England.
Other than that, you are right. The United States first started as 13 states which were originally British colonies, British plantations. Any other state that got its independence from France or Spain ot Mexico or whatever only joined the Union later on.
It was originally colonised by Britain, not England.
Other than that, you are right. The United States first started as 13 states which were originally British colonies, British plantations. Any other state that got its independence from France or Spain ot Mexico or whatever only joined the Union later on.
Ya'll are thinking of the Muhlenberg legend. Frederick Muhlenberg was the first US Speaker of the House and is credited for being the one vote that made English the official language of the US. What really happened was a group of German immigrants asked Congress to translate a bunch of documents into German. The bill was shot down 42-41, with Muhlenberg saying that the sooner the German-Americans became Americans the better.
It has nothing to do with an official language... As stated time and time again, the US has no official language. English is the de facto official language because a majority of Americans in the beginning were English... Duh.
It has nothing to do with an official language... As stated time and time again, the US has no official language. English is the de facto official language because a majority of Americans in the beginning were English... Duh.