American language

[Ginbottle]

Why did the Americans decide on English as their language, when they had Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch & others to choose from?

[jbeputnam]

The British were the first to populate America, after the Indians. White Americans are descendants of the British. The Pilgrims went over to America from Britain in the 1600s and populated Massachusetts, before expanding.

[Ginbottle]

jbeputnam's answer isn't entirely correct. The senators had to vote on the choice of language and English was the only one that the majority of senators understood.

[JohnThorn]

And don't forget America was a British colony until independence.

[Ginbottle]

British colony hasn't got anything to do with the answer. The Portuguese discovered San Diego. The Dutch : New Amsterdam. The Spanish influence for the place names continues(L.A. for one). I would like confimation that my answer is correct.

[babthrower]

The Spanish possessions in Florida and California didn't become part of the United States until long after the Constitution was drafted in English by a group of people, all English-speakers and all of English descent, to govern the 13 original states, all predominantly English-populated. Later additions of population groups such as the French of Louisiana, the Spanish and the many Aboriginal groups weren't consulted.

[inachis]

America does not have an official language

[mikewith]

There were also many German-speaking settlers in pre-Revolutionary America. One urban myth has it that Congress nearly voted to make German the official language of the country in 1795 -- reasoning: make a break from Britain following independence -- but, actually, it's not true!

[straz]

The ruling elite were/are often referred to a W.A.S.Ps (White. Anglo-Saxon. Protestants). Most Whites in pre-1776 North East America were English or of English decent they regarded themselves as Englishmen what is why they were outraged at being Taxed when they had no Members of Parliament which was every Englishman's right (No Taxation without Representation was the slogan). Most Presidents have been W.A.S.P.s (including good old George "Dublya" Bush). The Dutch had been driven out of New Amsterdam by the Duke of York (hence New York) in 1664 & the French like wise in 1759, although descendants of French, Dutch (e.g. the Roosevelt's) and other nationalities were still knocking around the "Anglo-Saxons" were the majority and very much "Top Dog". I've never head about voting in German as the official language before, remember the, (by then), much hated George III was also Elector of Hanover so speaking German wouldn't get you very far away from the "British " royalty.

[dlafferty]

There are many languages in the US. In parts of Louisianna, French is spoken more often than English. In parts of California, Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico, Spanish is the common language. Native languages are spoken in Hawaii and Alaska. Also, pockets of German- speaking people live in Pennsylvania and parts of the Midwest. You can even hear the Queen's English spoken in the US Virgin Islands. The US does not have an official language, that is a matter left to the states. For example, the official language of Florida is suprisingly English, even though the majority of Floridians speak Spanish. Likewise, Louisiana's official languages are English and French.