Embedded Files
Before 1880s
“For much of the 19th century,’' Mr. Castellanos says, “certainly before the 1880’s, the [locally controlled] structure of American public education allowed immigrant groups to incorporate linguistic and cultural traditions into the schools. ... Wherever immigrant groups possessed sufficient political power--be they Italian, Polish, Czech, French, Dutch, German--foreign languages were introduced into elementary and secondary schools, either as separate subjects or as languages of instruction.’' By the mid-1800’s, public and parochial German-English schools were operating in such cities as Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and St. Louis. One survey of school records in the Midwest found that at least 231,700 children were taught in German in 1900.
California's 1879 Constitution
Intolerance also characterized policies toward conquered peoples, notably Spanish speakers in the Southwest and Puerto Rico. The 1848 Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican- American War, made various guarantees to the inhabitants of the annexed territory. While there was no explicit mention of language and cultural rights, many believed that these were implicit in the treaty – as illustrated by the debate over California’s 1879 Constitution. In practice, Spanish language rights were seldom observed except in New Mexico, where English speakers were greatly outnumbered before the twentieth century. As detailed by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, New Mexico waged a long struggle for statehood against a Congress reluctant to grant self-rule to a non-English-speaking majority. When finally admitted in 1912, the state adopted a constitution with protections for Spanish speakers, for example, the bilingual publication of official documents.
1898
On the other hand, "bilingualism" as promoted by the United States in Puerto Rico had nothing to do with upholding language rights. It was an attempt to impose English on an island that was almost totally Spanish-speaking when it became a U.S. colony in 1898. As recounted by the Language Policy Task Force, Puerto Rican schools became a battleground over Americanization, a policy that for half a century insisted on English as the language of instruction.
1916
In 1916, the U.S. Commissioner of Education compromised and allowed Spanish instruction in grades 1-4, Spanish and English in grade 5, and English only thereafter--a policy that lasted until 1948.On the mainland, President Theodore Roosevelt lectured immigrants: “There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. ... Any man who comes here ... must adopt the institutions of the United States, and, therefore, he must adopt the language which is now the native tongue of our people, no matter what the several strains in our blood may be. It would not be merely a misfortune, but a crime to perpetuate differences of language in this country.”
1917
In addition, new laws regulated the use of foreign languages. Responding to a growing sentiment that using anything but English gave aid and comfort to the enemy, the Trading with the Enemy Act (50 USC Appendix), passed in June, 1917, suppressed the American foreign-language press and declared non-English printed matter unbailable without a certified English translation.
1918
Across the country, state and local ordinances forbade the use of foreign languages, urged immigrants to switch to English immediately, and punished those who failed to comply. On May 23, 1918, Iowa Gov. William Harding banned the use of any foreign language in public: in schools, on the streets, in trains, even over the telephone, a more public instrument then than it is today. For Harding, the First Amendment “is not a guaranty of the right to use a language other than the language of this country—the English language.”
1923
With the approach of World War I, anti-German feeling spelled trouble not only for German-language instruction, but for all bilingual-education programs. Between 1903 and 1923, the number of states mandating English as the language of instruction--in some cases extending the requirement to private schools--grew from 14 to 34, according to Mr. Castellanos. In some states, it became illegal to use German on the street, on the telephone, or in church.
Immigration Act of 1924
At the federal level, Congress responded to a new wave of isolationism that was sweeping the country with the Immigration Act of 1924. The law slowed immigration from the non anglophone countries of Europe to a trickle and denied admission to anyone from just about everywhere else (Asians were banned completely, and in the debate over the bill, Jews were singled out as particularly inassimilable).
1930
English as a second language, a methodology developed in the 1930’s to teach foreign diplomats and university students English, was extended to language-minority children.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse