German Language In The United States
Although over 50 million Americans claim German ancestry, which makes them the largest single ethnic group in the country, only around 1.38 million people speak German in the United States. It is the second most spoken language in the Dakotas.
Since the mass emigration of Germans to Pennsylvania in the early 1700s, all through the 1800s, and into the early 20th century, German was the second most widely spoken language in the United States after English. It was spoken by millions of immigrants from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires, and their descendants. Many newspapers, churches and schools operated in German as did many businesses. The use of the language was strongly suppressed by social and legal means during World War I, and German declined as a result, limiting the widespread use of the language mainly to Amish and Old Order Mennonite communities.
Read more about German Language In The United States: History, Dialects and Geographic Distribution, German As The Official US Language Myth, German-American Tradition in Literature, Use in Education
Famous quotes containing the words united states, german, language, united and/or states:
“Television is an excellent system when one has nothing to lose, as is the case with a nomadic and rootless country like the United States, but in Europe the affect of television is that of a bulldozer which reduces culture to the lowest possible denominator.”
—Marc Fumaroli (b. 1932)
“The German Reich is a Republic, and whoever doesn’t believe it gets one in the neck.”
—Alfred Döblin (1878–1957)
“Jargon: any technical language we do not understand.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Human life in common is only made possible when a majority comes together which is stronger than any separate individual and which remains united against all separate individuals. The power of this community is then set up as “right” in opposition to the power of the individual, which is condemned as “brute force.””
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)
“I make this direct statement to the American people that there is far less chance of the United States getting into war, if we do all we can now to support the nations defending themselves against attack by the Axis than if we acquiesce in their defeat, submit tamely to an Axis victory, and wait our turn to be the object of attack in another war later on.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)