How come German is not the Official language of the USA?

"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."

This goes along with what I've read about German in Texas as well.

It is actually one of those conspiracy theories that never goes away ;0)

I heard these stories as a child and I believed them for a very long time, however, after personal and professional research...I am sad to say that the German language was never even a candidate for an official status here in the United States. This whole myth comes from the fact that in the late 1800's to mid 1900's Germans were the largest ethnic group settling in the United States. And just as people today fear the Spanish influence of the Latin migration into the United States, they feared the German migration into the United States.

I grew up in western Iowa, which is a state in the middle of the United States. In fact, my entire family has remained in Iowa since my great grandfather migrated here in the 1800's. I never knew my grandparents because they both died before I was born, however, my father told me that my grandfather and grandmother, who were both born in 1895, never spoke a word of English in their lives.

My father who was born in 1919 did not speak English until he started school, and even then it was broken English with a very heavy accent. My mother came here from Germany in 1937 after Hitler took her family farm away to build a factory. Something I always thought was funny, is that my German mother spoke better English than my American father ;0)

Even during and after the war when Germany's popularity took a turn for the worst here in America, my parents made us speak German in honor of our ancestry. And it was funny, because even though my friends in school would make fun of me, or say racial remarks...they respected my family and accepted us openly. We were the "Silly Germans." In fact, German was the language of my family until I started having children in the 1960's. My children have a decent level of fluency. They can understand and speak it, but they only do so with me, my wife, and their grandparents...well, they may have taken advantage of it in school and got high grades in German class ;0)

My story is not uncommon here in the Midwest. There are many stories like this in Iowa. I cannot speak for all the states. But where I live it is almost 100% German ancestry. And we are very proud of it.

I myself am not sure where people get the idea that "German almost became an official language in the US" comes from, considering that there is practically no historical basis for the idea. At the same time, whether German would have survived here had it not been for US involvement in WW1 is another story...

There is no question that both World Wars had a very negative impact on the German language and culture...

While this myth was around before the wars, I think it has changed as most campfire stories do with time.

I am willing to bet that people were looking around and seeing this huge increase in Germanic cultures and saying...wow...in a few years they will take over we will all be speaking German. This could have been nothing more than a joke told on the street corners...I cannot begin to place myself in the minds of people during 1850 and 1900, which was when the majority of the German migration took place. However, I do not think it is too different from how people in the United States are reacting to the current migrations of people from Latin America.

Some people feel threatened by the current Latin migrations and say things like "they are taking over" and "everyone is speaking Spanish now." Just recently there were a lot of problems when there was an effort to have a Spanish version of the National Anthem made official. No one had a problem with a Spanish version, but making it official did not sit well with some people.

Now most people know this is not true, but there are some who honestly feel this way and they spread stories like this to create fear and hatred towards a foreign culture.

After both wars, this myth was altered and used as propaganda by the government and anti-German groups to show how close we came to being ruled by Germany, again spreading fear and hatred towards German.

In modern times, with the current immigration situation in the United States, this story has reared its head again. People were using this myth as an example of how one ethnic group can "almost" take over, when the truth is that it never even came close to doing so.

As someone pointed out earlier...most Germanic cultures tend to conform to the areas they settle. There are exceptions, my family for instance...but the majority of the Germanic peoples became American relatively quickly.

Like I said before...it was...and is...a myth and nothing more.

Simple. During WWI / WWII all the Germans in America were ashamed of Germany and started speaking English full time and changing their last names from German to English.

There were a lot of Germans and German-Americans, who were saddened at the events of both World Wars, but I do not think my family, or any person of German ancestry, was really ever ashamed of being German.

In fact, I remember my father used to call them "the misguided." And I think that is how a lot of people felt also. Germany and the German people were not bad...there were bad Germans doing bad things in Germany.

I think there were more outside groups trying to make Germans and German-Americans feel ashamed. Most Germans had changed their names upon entering the nation before the wars. This was a common practice done in order to conform to America, and I think an overly generous act of respect. The names that were changed after the wars were changed for many reasons and not all of them were war related.

One major war related reason was what happened after the wars. The world went hunting for surviving members of the Nazi party for war crimes. It didn't matter who you were, where you where during the war, or even if you were in the war...you were a potential suspect because of your name and the possible connections you may have had. In this case, it wasn't because of the shame of their German names; it was because people didn't want their families being harassed for something they didn't do.

I think we can all understand and appreciate that?

>>There were a lot of Germans and German-Americans, who were saddened at the events of both World Wars, but I do not think my family, or any person of German ancestry, was really ever ashamed of being German.<<

Same here.

Did the German cultural features (e. g. way of doing business or celebrating Christmas etc.) disappeared together with the German language? Is St. Martin still celebrated in Texas or the Midwest, and do you have still beer gardens, kindergardens, beer and Korn-Schnaps in St. Louis or Cincinnati?

"Did the German cultural features (e. g. way of doing business or celebrating Christmas etc.) disappeared together with the German language?"

The Christmas tree originate from Germany. In the mid-19th century the tradition slowly extended to Eastern Europe (through German communities), to France (through Alsacians), and to England (through German relatives of queen Victorian).

Given the enormous German immigration in the USA the Xmas tree became immensely popular there in the late 19th century, and eventually conquered (almost) the whole world after WW-II... as an American tradition.

"...and do you have still beer gardens, kindergardens, beer and..."

You will find these at any festival in the Midwest. Whether it is a small town parade or the 4th of July!

I don't know if these are German traditions bleeding into American culture...or...Americans loving to drink ;0)

Oktoberfest has become the most important tradition to sweep the United States in the recent past. However, much like St. Patrick's Day for the Irish....the United States doesn't really bother with the cultural connections and meanings...they just use it as another excuse to drink and party.

I come from a German heavy community and we attract a lot of people from neighboring towns and cities. And the first question I get ask...and the most annoying..."Why do you celebrate Oktoberfest in September?"

It's like asking an Irish person on St. Patrick's if St. Patrick really drove all snakes out of Ireland...

For those who do not know these answers, add a little culture to your life and look them up. Not only will you impress your friends, but it helps bring a little understanding to German and Irish culture. And also, understand that this is really a Bavarian thing. All the stuff you see at this festival does not really represent all of Germany; it represents a part of Germany called Bavaria.

But I am sure there will be more on this topic in September.

A lot of the same things apply here in Milwaukee. Note that a lot of such things are traditionally viewed here as remaining German influence rather than as being some more general feature of American culture. And as for Oktoberfest, we do not have anything by that name here, but rather have "German Fest", which is in July and is one of many similar festivals here.

Isn`t the fact that English is spoken in the US related to a widely British culture and way of life. What can be characterized as British in the American culture. Muffins could be such a thing, but what about tea time, do many US citizens have a tea culture? What about religion (Anglicanism), pubs, or the famous British breakfast and other food like muffins or black pudding? And what about snobs and elites and the British way of defining their social hierarchy (castes, importance of good manners, upper class accent etc.)? In brief: is the American way of life very British due to the fact that English is spoken?

Frankly I can't see anything "British" in USA apart from negative things. Racism at the very first place.
USA is a melting pot and the british is only one of the ethnic components of the country. What is British when you think about Los Angeles or Oregon or Miami or Far West or any other thing it comes in your mind?
English is spoken in USA for a chance not because it is a "british" country.
They could speak French, Spanish otr Latin as well.
To me is wrong connecting USA to this british ethnic idea

"Frankly I can't see anything "British" in USA apart from negative things. Racism at the very first place.
USA is a melting pot and the british is only one of the ethnic components of the country"


Yes, US is a melting pot, but who did make it possible? The British settlers did, later migrants adopted the system established by the first british settlers. US is one of the most ancient democracies thanks to the inherited British tradition. This is not a negative or minor thing.

<<Oktoberfest has become the most important tradition to sweep the United States in the recent past. However, much like St. Patrick's Day for the Irish....the United States doesn't really bother with the cultural connections and meanings...they just use it as another excuse to drink and party.>>

I disagree. Although you will find plenty of college students and drunks wandering through these celebrations, we do make an effort to make the cultural connection. People will be walking around in Lederhosen and Dirndls.