English-only movement
An English-only movement refers to political movements for establishing the English language as the only official language in the United States. "Movement" here is a loose collective term, as the idea has had incarnations in different political eras.
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The earliest English-only movement
In 1803, by the Louisiana Purchase, the United States acquired French-speaking populations in Louisiana. After the Mexican-American War, the United States acquired Spanish – (about 75,000) and additional indigenous language-speaking populations, as well.
An 1847 law authorized Anglo-French instruction in public schools in Louisiana. In 1849, the California constitution recognized Spanish language rights.
French language rights were abolished after the American Civil War. In 1868, the Indian Peace Commission recommended English-only schooling for the American Indians. In 1878–79, the California constitution was rewritten: "All laws of the State of California, and all official writings, and the executive, legislative, and judicial proceedings shall be conducted, preserved, and published in no other than the English language."
In the late 1880s, Wisconsin and Illinois passed English-only instruction laws for both public and parochial schools.
In 1896, whilst still under British influence, English became the sole medium of public schooling for Hawaiian children. After the Spanish-American War, English was declared "the official language of the school room" in Puerto Rico. In the same, English was declared the official language in the Philippines, after the Philippine-American War.
The modern English-only movement
- 1980: Dade County, Florida, voters approved an "anti-bilingual ordinance".
- 1981: English was declared the official language in the state of Virginia.
- 1983: Dr. John Tanton founded, along with S. I. Hayakawa, political lobbying organization U.S. English. (In 1979, Dr. Tanton had founded the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an immigration reductionist group.)
- 1986
- Tanton wrote a memo containing derogatory remarks about Hispanics, which appeared in the press, leading to the resignations from U.S. English of board member Walter Cronkite and executive director Linda Chavez.
- Larry Pratt founded English First, while Lou Zaeske established the American Ethnic Coalition.
- 1994: Tanton and other U.S. English former associates founded ProEnglish specifically to defend Arizona's English-only law.
- 2005: Many national talk radio hosts—generally political conservatives—openly supported the movement as the Minuteman Project gained notoriety in an effort to curb illegal aliens' entry into the United States.
Current Law
Currently, the United States federal government specifies no official language, but there are official languages in these states:
- English alone:
- Alabama (1990)
- Arkansas (1987)
- California (1986)
- Colorado (1988)
- Florida (1988)
- Georgia (1996)
- Illinois (1969)
- Indiana (1984)
- Iowa (2002)
- Kentucky (1984)
- Massachusetts (1975)
- Mississippi (1987)
- Missouri (1998)
- Montana (1995)
- Nebraska (1920)
- New Hampshire (1995)
- North Carolina (1987)
- North Dakota (1987)
- Oklahoma (2003)
- South Carolina (1987)
- South Dakota (1995)
- Tennessee (1984)
- Utah (2000)
- Virginia (1996)
- West Virginia (2005)
- Wyoming (1996)
- "English Plus" resolutions:
- New Mexico (1989)
- Oregon (1989)
- Rhode Island (1992)
- Washington (1989)
- None:
Also, English and Spanish are official in Puerto Rico. English and Chamorro are the official languages of Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands