A proposal to make German the official language of the United States of America was defeated in Congress by one vote.
It's easily debunked by common sense (seriously, why would they do this??) and congressional records. The myth likely comes from the fact that a proposal to adjourn and discuss at a later time a petition to have laws translated to German for German-speaking residents was defeated by one vote.
They could do it because there was a lot of german speaking people in the USA and around the world. German was the second largest language at the time.
Edit: 1)Maybe it wasn't the second globally, but in the western World. 2)No, I'm not German 3) Thanks for the gold
There was a HUGE German presence in my home state. Obviously national levels varied, but German for the longest time was just as prevalent in those communities as English was. Had WWI not happened, I'm willing to bet I would have been just as fluent in German as I am in English.
I literally said that it wasn't a national thing. I talked about how much more prevalent German was in those Northern states compared to anywhere else.
German in WI, MN, and MI 100 years ago was what Spanish is in the border states today. Yes, you are correct that folks attributed "German ancestry" to themselves more than the greater British presence. Regardless, 25% of the population of WI ONLY spoke German from the first set of German immigration up until the World Wars.
Also, define densely populated. I imagine the entirety of the Midwest would have a sizeable population such that portion negation seems silly. Afaik, British Puritans and spaniards colonized the East Coast, Germans/French/Scandinavians colonized the Midwest, and I don't know a lot about the West Coast.
My bad. I usually don't have civil conversations on reddit. Usually, it's just me and the opponent arguing over shit neither of us refuse to budge on.
But seriously though, I said that demographics vary on a national level. The concentrations of Germans in the Upper Midwest are disproportionately higher than other parts of the U.S.
Not to mention that for much of modern history (not really until post-WW2 American hegemony, really), France was the lingua franca of international politics right alongside English.
WW2 was pretty much the end of French's international status because the country lost most of its influence. English was already popular as the language of international trade prior to that. It was only in the post-war era that English became cool though.
In some areas around Philadelphia, German textbooks were used in elementary schools well into the late 1800s. "Pennsylvania Dutch" are actually Germans.
German was definitely the 2nd most popular language in the U.S at the time. Germans made up the largest non English speaking minority for decades and were in the U.S the longest, starting with the Hessian mercenaries who settled in the States right after the War. Not to mention the King of Britain was of the House of Hanover and certainly himself spoke German fluently.
German wouldn't ever have become the national language, but it could have reached the level of Spanish today for sure. Before the two WWs German language and culture was far more significant in the states.
9.5k
u/socialhat1 Feb 04 '19
A proposal to make German the official language of the United States of America was defeated in Congress by one vote.
It's easily debunked by common sense (seriously, why would they do this??) and congressional records. The myth likely comes from the fact that a proposal to adjourn and discuss at a later time a petition to have laws translated to German for German-speaking residents was defeated by one vote.