If a majority of Americans are of German descent, how did English come to be the prominent language?
Posted by ThePurpleRainmakerr@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 167 comments
Just as the title asks.
AnybodySeeMyKeys@reddit
The English came first. The Germans came later.
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
Yes and no. The joke in PA is that German immigrants actually likely outnumbered the English colonists significantly at the time of the revolution, but didn't hold substantial wealth or power.
mr_dumpsterfire@reddit
Because Germans immigrants came well after the establishment of the English colonies.
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
That's false actually - significant numbers of Germans arrived starting in 1683 and throughout the 1700s and settled in PA. They were among the largest single immigrant populations in the US at that time and more arrived after the war but there was already signifigant German immigrant presence in PA and would be for a long time to come. You see that influence EVERYWHERE in PA.
These-Ad2374@reddit
Who told you that a majority of Americans are of German descent?? The US is a very diverse place
BrilliantDishevelled@reddit
The largest group of immigrants is indeed German.
PuzzleheadedBug4424@reddit
That’s different from majority
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
That's not true, as some PA Germans arrived as early as 1683. The majority arrived in the 1700s, most before the revolution. It's also why so many of the Hessian Mercenaries basically defected, settled, and received land as a reward.
Equivalent-Willow179@reddit
British descent > German descent > English descent alone
I'd say people of British ancestry were the largest group. But there are slightly more people of German ancestry than English ancestry.
BrilliantDishevelled@reddit
It's German #1.
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2015/02/05/the-silent-minority
Prestigious-Comb4280@reddit
Came here in 1854 is all I can read. The history of this country is far longer than that.
Gretawashere@reddit
Not immigrants. German ancestry. Which has a lot more to say about European history than American.
Total_Ask_2046@reddit
They WERE immigrants at some point in the not so distant past.
Gretawashere@reddit
Yes there were German immigrants but they are not even close to the most foreign born immigrants that migrated to the U.S. that would be mexico and central america. European immigrants like Irish and Italian also came over in larger swaths. (But they may also have German ancestry).
raysebond@reddit
It's also "identify as." A typical person living in, say, north Buffalo will be English/Italian/German/Scottish/???? and will identify as Italian or Italian/German, just on the basis of the two most recent last names.
It's basically a popularity contest with a tangential relationship to heritage. Most of us in the US are mixture of various "heritages."
BrilliantDishevelled@reddit
Good point
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
That's actually correct.
Oystershucker80@reddit
The plurality of Americans are of German descent, but they are just the largest single group and only make up a relatively small part of just white people, nevermind society as a whole.
Fondacey@reddit
It's strictly by self identification. They could very well have equal amounts of any number of European ancestries
captmonkey@reddit
Yeah, I'm wondering if there's a source for this claim. My hunch is it's one of those things where "American" or "European" is an option and that's what a lot of people, particularly those in the south with families who've been here for 200+ years, pick. It turns out most of them are just descended from British immigrants, but it's so many generations removed they don't know where exactly their family is from.
Fondacey@reddit
I found something about the ethnic origins of Americans and German was listed at no. 1 - but it also said it was about people saying it themselves.
jaker9319@reddit
Yeah - it's funny because what captmonkey said is true but it's lead to this weird thing where people think that people lie on the census for "clout" because English isn't cool but German or Irish are.
But basically for social and historical reasons, white people from the South (which received less immigration from non-British European countries) have tended to identify as "American" for ancestry on census forms. And the vast majority (but not all) of these people identifying as "American" by ancestry on the census have English (and to a lesser degree Scots Irish) ancestry).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_ancestry#:\~:text=A%202015%20genetic%20study%20published,from%20other%20parts%20of%20Europe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Americans#/media/File:Englishancestrymap.jpg
When you combine American and English ancestries (in terms of census data), English is definitely the most common ancestry.
It's just that using census data, German is the top listed ancestry for whites because so many people with English ancestry identify as American.
No-Contact6664@reddit
Speaking for my own family. They meaning the linage of my name came directly from Germany and then married people who came directly from Czechoslovakia and everywhere else in Europe from Belgium to the UK.
My name is a butchering of German to make English friendly.
You could say I'm German and I guess I do but reality is far more complex.
Fondacey@reddit
That's the thing - even before Europeans starting arriving en mass in the 19th century - they were not necessarily from one place in Europe. Then add to the national lines being moved here and there for a century or more until after WW2 (and then again after 1989)
Throughout Europe you find 'German villages" where the local population is German in some way but fully 'local' too.
Proof-Introduction42@reddit
majority of white Americans are of German descent. German is the largest single ethnic group to represented of European descendent Americans
Prestigious-Comb4280@reddit
Guess that makes me a minority of white Americans. Cool!
Background-Humor2642@reddit
Is this a serious question?
Because the US are formerly colonies of Great Britain. The people in power established English as the language of business, politics, and social life. German immigrants came much later.
ObiWanKnieval@reddit
Germans, like the French and Dutch, have been here nearly as long as the English.
albertnormandy@reddit
Numbers matter. The vast majority of early immigrants to the colonies and later early US were from the British Isles. Even today the American South is still predominantly of either British or African descent.
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
Actually, it really depends on the colony. PA had vastly more Germans than any other colony and made up a much more significant part of the population. NY claims Pretzels but those of us from PA laugh bc our ties to Pretzels are signifigantly more robust than NYC. It's why PA has such a massive pretzel and beer culture.
ObiWanKnieval@reddit
They do. However, the colonies were more diverse than what's taught in American history classes. You're correct that the vast majority of early colonists were from the British Isles. However, in the case of the American South, considering the majority of white southerners are the descendents of indentured servants who arrived prior to the revolution, they weren't necessarily immigrants or colonizers.
albertnormandy@reddit
Indentured servants were absolutely immigrants and colonizers.
ObiWanKnieval@reddit
In many cases, they were. Still, I think intent matters. The total number of European immigrants to all 13 colonies before 1775 was about 500,000; of these, 55,000 were involuntary prisoners. The majority of whom were transported to the American South. About 75% of indentured servants were under the age of adulthood (24 at that time), and that population also included kidnapped children. Therefore, I question the legitimacy of their consent. I believe the servant class should be distinguished from those immigrants who set sail "in search of a better life."
That seems to be the most reasonable explanation.
Lamballama@reddit
Germans came in significant number only after the failed revolutions of the 1840s
TillPsychological351@reddit
Not quite true. There were a pretty well established populations of Germans in Pennsylvania and upstate New York at the time of the Revolution, although in NY, the distinction between "Hollandisch" and "Deutsche" was somewhat blurred.
Outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania may have had a German-speaking majority prior to independence.
Yes, these were dwarfed by the later influx of 48ers, but their numbers were still pretty substantial.
Carinyosa99@reddit
My grandfather was Pennsylvania Dutch and his family has been here since the early 1700s with several fighting in the American Revolution. His ancestry mostly settled in what is now Lebanon County, PA, east of Harrisburg.
ObiWanKnieval@reddit
I've found a few random German and Dutch ancestors from the late 1600s around the same area. Furthermore, during the American Revolutionary War, Britain dispatched Hessian Auxiliary Units to the colonies. I'm not sure how many returned to Germany, but approximately 25% percent of all British ground troops came from the Hessian states of Germany. Germany also supplied indentured servants to the colonies (although not nearly as many as the British Isles).
Walksuphills@reddit
I believe this is true of some of my ancestors. I've seen family headstones that are all in German 3 generations in. My own grandmother, born in 1921, could still speak Pennsylvania Dutch.
It may have been a slow process when there are large communities, but assimilation happened eventually.
panTrektual@reddit
My German ancestors came to America in the 1840s. German was still spoken in the home until my great grandfather put an end to it after learning what Hitler was doing.
WhichWitch9402@reddit
Not in the numbers that matter nor in positions of overall power. Sure Dutch founded NYC, but the government was all British-based as well as judiciary. English was the predominant language of the land. The larger numbers of German immigrants - and let’s not forget the number of Irish at the same time - came much later. English was already the established language of the new country.
Effective_Move_693@reddit
There actually was a question brought up in the late 1700s/early 1800s on if official government documents should be printed in both English and German due to the number of German immigrants but that never caught on. There were a few pockets of the country where people persistently spoke German, but a couple of wars changed that
Prestigious-Comb4280@reddit
You mean the Pennsylvania Dutch?
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
The PA Dutch still speak a dialect of German. Certain sec'ts still conduct almost all daily life in that dialect. I spoke to someone about it just today who spoke it.
ELMUNECODETACOMA@reddit
Benjamin Franklin, among other Founding Fathers, didn't think much of Germans and referred to them in similar terms as would later be used for the Irish and Italians.
ObiWanKnieval@reddit
Yes. They were considered a "swarthy" race.
Prestigious-Comb4280@reddit
Ridiculous question and completely Not factual. lol
urnbabyurn@reddit
Also a plurality is not a majority.
DrGeraldBaskums@reddit
We were a colony of England before we rejected tea for the vastly superior coffee products
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
We were 13 Colonies, not a single colony, and English was spoken as the primary language in all of them by the time of the revolution.
DiscontentDonut@reddit
I will never stop being tickled by memes about enjoying tea by dumping it into the harbor.
savguy6@reddit
Totally unrelated to this overall post but your comment reminded me of it. I got a slight giggle the other day thinking about the upcoming World Cup knowing that England have a game in Boston. The players could literally visit the harbor we threw their shit in that kicked off our fight for independence. 😆
DiscontentDonut@reddit
I hope there becomes some viral interaction we can all enjoy. Not anything malicious. But I would absolutely love to see them make a joke about it. "This tea is shit. I wish they hadn't thrown the good stuff in the harbor." Something like that.
Prestigious-Comb4280@reddit
The tea that we get here is shit. I have mine imported from England. Twinings here is not the same as there.
DiscontentDonut@reddit
I completely get that. I do think my personal taste is skewed having grown up in the South. We drink Luzianne brand black iced tea. Doesn't matter the season, either.
Prestigious-Comb4280@reddit
Luzianne is better there too. I live in the south also. Thanks for reminding me. One hotel I stayed at had Luzianne in the hotel and I think the other was Twinings. Of course with it being London there wasn't an ice cube in site. At the restaurant I ordered and large glass of ice and I received a large glass with one small cube in the bottom. I was like...WTF? lol
DiscontentDonut@reddit
The mental image of a single ice cube in a tall glass is absolutely tickling me. Of course in the moment, I would be confused. But I love that even going in knowing, trying to solve the issue yourself by communicating your exact needs, they still misunderstood.
This is almost as delightful as when I found the British version of a Chinese takeaway involves fries and gravy, the most British thing.
TillPsychological351@reddit
Something tells me that the Boston Tea Party lingers far stronger in our cultural memory thab it does for Britain...
mistiklest@reddit
They literally have a café chain called Boston Tea Party.
Curmudgy@reddit
And I wonder how many Americans mistakenly believe it was a protest against higher taxes on tea.
alxfx@reddit
I mean, it could be regional for us, but I feel like "no taxation without representation" is a big part of the collective understanding of why it all happened the way it did.
Maybe it's just ingrained in us massholes specifically, but I'd bet most people have at least heard the taxation line before
Prestigious-Comb4280@reddit
That's what I learned in school also.
Curmudgy@reddit
I’m sure people have heard of that but rarely connect to it. The Tea Party movement was about lower taxation, not improving representation.
Ok_Buy_9703@reddit
Brits loose track of how many countries kicked them out.
Laura_e_r@reddit
Correct
Last_Noldoran@reddit
Several reasons:
the waves of German and german-speaking immigration came after English was established as the lingua franca of the US.
this led to a change in names at arrival
the 20th CT World Wars led to a ton of changes in names and language in the anglosphere. The UK monarchy changed its name. Several companies changed names to be less German.
English language was taught in schools
In some communities, English is a secondary language.
ilovjedi@reddit
Yes. My maternal grandmother’s family anglicized their last name at some point. It was very German.
And there’s a Supreme Court Case Meyer v. Nebraska where the state tried to make it against the law to teach children German before 8th grade.
Tron_35@reddit
Yeah my last name is an Americanized version of a German name.
DOMSdeluise@reddit
a majority of Americans are not of German descent, for one thing
Positive-Avocado-881@reddit
Right, it would have to be like 100% of the white population in the country to be true 😂
jaker9319@reddit
Not sure why you were downvoted. Non-Hispanic white people make up like 60% of the US population. Sure, some Hispanic people or multiracial people could have German ancestry, and many white people have multiple ancestries. But I can't imagine over 50% of people have some German ancestry and there is no scenario where over 50% of people have their ancestry that is over 50% German.
jaker9319@reddit
A majority of Americans are not of German descent. I think you mean to say, German is the most common ancestry. Which it is if you go by census data (which is obviously based on self identification, they don't ask for dna swabs). The issue is that a lot of people with British, and especially English ancestry (definitely not all) in the US identify as "American" in terms of ancestry on the census.
The South didn't receive a lot of European immigration and many people in the South who were of English ancestry started to identify as American for ancestry. So English ancestry became "under represented" when using census data because people with English ancestry started identifying as American.
There were a lot of German immigrants. And while English ancestry is under represented with census data, it's not because people know they have English ancestry but decide to only put down German or Irish or whatever on the census form for "clout". At best people might think they have English and Irish and put down both but a dna test shows they only have English. So yeah a lot of people do have genuine German ancestry but more people have English ancestry than first appear (again not due to people lying for "clout".
Pitiful_Lion7082@reddit
WWI and anti-German sentiments, mostly
Tall_Mickey@reddit
Because they were English-ruled colonies, not German-ruled colonies. And the upper-classes spoke English.
Besides: when you say someone's of "German descent," what does that mean? All German? Half German? You had a grandmother from there? That's not all that important.
Interesting note, though: a great many Germans came to America around the burn of the 1900s to escape impending war in Europe, and also famine. But they planned to go back. So the first bilingual education schools were created in the US -- for Germans. They needed to speak English, but they also expected to go back to Germany.
But by the time World War I was over and it was safe to return, they'd all been there 20 years or so, settled in and got professions and started businesses, learned English (mostly) and never did go back.
IsThisDecent@reddit
A majority of Ameircans are not descended from Germans. Look at a list of the most common surnames.
Naddyman2005@reddit
One was the colonizer (English) the other were the immigrants (Germans and German speaking people) so the one that colonized and later diverged into it’s own country still following many of the same cultural principles as the “mother” country, still has the main influence on the original language spoken (english). Also, I definitely would not say a majority of Americans have German ancestry, particularly if you’re including African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and Native Americans. The only places I would think someone would feel confident saying that the majority of the regional population has German ancestry is in certain areas of the upper midwest and southeast Pennsylvania (excluding the Phili metro area).
AStarkWinterfell@reddit
Colonization by the British Empire.
WildlifePolicyChick@reddit
Your premise is incorrect. The majority of Americans are not of German descent.
Bear_necessities96@reddit
World wars changed everything, by 1914 German was the second most spoken language, after WWI and WWII anti-german sentiment makes lots German Americans to assimilate, stopped speaking german at home and changed their family name to one more English sounded (Muller to Miller, Schmidt to Smith, etc).
English Ancestry is very underreported, lots of Americans with ancestry coming from before independence identify themselves as Americans only, and people with mixed ancestry usually tend to report their minority heritage such as Mexican, German, Italian, Irish etc.
juan_humano@reddit
A majority of Americans are not of German decent. A quick Google search says that between 12%-17% of americans self identify as being of German descent. And if you know anything about Americans self reporting their descent, you know that a good deal of those 12-17% have maybe 1 German person in their lineage, several generations ago.
albertnormandy@reddit
Come on! I had 32 great great great grandparents. One of them was German so I consider myself German. I even were lederhosen to work and talk about Oktoberfest all the time.
juan_humano@reddit
Look, I like Shiner and Fredericksburg as much as anyone. After spending a few years in the Hill Country, I met a whole lot of people named Smith or Brown, who's grandpa told them about his grandpa in the old country and they will tell you about it every chance they get.
WulfTheSaxon@reddit
But also Irish on St. Paddy’s, right?
anneofgraygardens@reddit
this is me. of my eight great-grandparents, one of them was of German heritage. I didn't even know about this until we did some genealogy work.... until then I thought everyone on that side of my family was of Irish descent.
Impulse2915@reddit
They aren't. Majority of Americans are of English decent.
No_Importance_750@reddit
We used to be owned by the British
tsukiii@reddit
The English got here before the Germs
ITrCool@reddit
We're not a majority German.
My family actually was a majority from Sweden, Britain, Ireland, and only some from Germany (mostly my dad's side). Some didn't settle over here until the turn of the 20th century. Others came back in the colonial days.
Eric848448@reddit
German was WIDELY spoken in much of the Midwest until 1920 or so. Pockets still hung on but were pretty much gone by 1945.
GreenBeanTM@reddit
1) because England founded us.
2) because the majority of us aren’t of German descent. It wouldn’t surprise me if I’m some percent German because most of us aren’t a mash of different European ethnicities, but the only ones I’m also aware of are me being majority Irish and some tiny percent British because I’m related to Governor Bradford. As far as I’m aware I have literally zero German ancestry.
Kman17@reddit
The U.S. was established by England, so it was the predominant language.
Waves of German immigrants came later, and they did come in waves rather than all at once. The steady stream just integrated.
A lot of this was late 1800’s into early 1900’s.
World War 1 and especially World War 2 accelerated integration - the German immigrants became ashamed of their German heritage and more intentionally anglicized their names, stopped speaking the language at home.
passisgullible@reddit
Because the ones to actually come over and make permanent settlements that lasted were British.
Total_Ask_2046@reddit
Germans came after colonies were a thing.
TillPsychological351@reddit
And before.
Last_Noldoran@reddit
Several reasons:
the waves of German and german-speaking immigration came after English was established as the lingua franca of the US.
this led to a change in names at arrival
the 20th CT World Wars led to a ton of changes in names and language in the anglosphere. The UK monarchy changed its name. Several companies changed names to be less German.
English language was taught in schools
In some communities, English is a secondary language.
Ok_Salamander6797@reddit
Because we're an English colony?
lisasimpsonfan@reddit
There were a couple petitions to push German as our prominent language in the late 1700s but they failed.
dontdoxmebro@reddit
The ethnicity data from the US Census is made from data collected from self-reported survey answers, and there may be significant issues with its accuracy and methodology. Irish and Native American ancestry is significantly over reported, and English ancestry is significantly underreported.
A notable issue concerning your question is that the US Census combines most German ethnicities into a single German group, but divides the Anglo ethnicities into multiple groups such as English, Scottish, Irish, and even Welsh. If you recombine the Anglo ethnicities into a single Anglo group, it is larger than the German ethnicity. The German speakers also arrived much later, and may have been speaking significantly divergent dialects of German, particularly the Volga Germans.
This has been a common question so search for other threads.
Cheap_Coffee@reddit
What leads you to believe the majority of Americans are of German descent?
TipsyBaker_@reddit
A lot of people are pointing to the 13 colonies being English ruled, but it ignores just how much variety in languages were at the time and in the centuries following. Not to mention who the English king and queen were during the revolution.
German didn't really start to die out in the US until WW1, then WW2 really killed it. There's still a few patches where it's a common language but nowhere near the levels of 100 years ago.
BeachmontBear@reddit
First, Germans aren’t the majority even among those of European descent. It’s challenging to get accurate information in this regard since people are so mixed in ancestry but according to the 2020 census amount those with European ancestry, 46.6M people identified as having English heritage, Irish at 38.6, Italian at 16.8, and Poland at 8.6M.
Germans came early, and their language did last as a language in the U.S. throughout the 19th century, especially in places with large concentrations. But in populations more diffused, they had to adapt to the population. In the first World War Germans were looked at with suspicion and then World War II when they were persona non grata — that pretty much eradicated the German language in the U.S. And generally, life’s hard here if you don’t speak English.
Daddysheremyluv@reddit
The reason for English has been addressed. The question regarding descent is a little more complicated but in the simplest terms we are a melting pot. People claim "descent" from various places in the world. Someone could have 1 born in Germany grandparent and identify as they are of German Descent, also What ever cocktail of descents.
It turns out for most groups our Grands didn't hold back when chasing chics outside the clique.
karmapolice63@reddit
About 40 million Americans report being of German descent in a country of 330 million. That’s a long way from being a majority. It is the largest self-reported group of people in the country according to census data. I would bet a large majority of that number stem from a much smaller number of original ancestors from back in the days of the US being British colonies.
tn00bz@reddit
The majority of americans are not of German descent. That statistic come from the 2000s census that asked americans to self identify their ancestry. Most americans pick their most recent immigrant family and identify with thatm for instance, I myself have a german grandmother, so I might identify as German-American because that actually sticks out and means something to me. But all of my other ancestors are of British and irish descent. English and Scottish ancestry is by far the most common in the United States.
Inner_West_Ben@reddit
Are they? Got some evidence behind that?
Positive-Avocado-881@reddit
That’s not even true 😅
Rhiannon1954@reddit
Americans with Hispanic ancestry outnumber those of German descent. Not that I have a stick in this fire. I am 100% British Isles.
Total_Ask_2046@reddit
'Murica: Speaking 'Murican since 1776!
boodyclap@reddit
There were also massive campaigns during WWI to snuff out any German in German communities, my grandmother grew up speaking German as a first language
Dhris6120@reddit
Bro the majority is definitely English not german
Danibear285@reddit
Lmao that’s not how that works
shadowpavement@reddit
The US is a really big place. And there are pockets of people who settled from many different countries.
Where I’m from in the US the most common second language is French.
Total_Ask_2046@reddit
Laissez les bon temps roulez!
ALoungerAtTheClubs@reddit
The majority of Americans aren't of German descent, but it is a big group. Most of those came after English was established. German did persist for a long time in some communities but the World Wars put the kibosh on that for obvious reasons.
Simple-Statistician6@reddit
European descent, maybe. I have Irish, English, and German in my background.
ALoungerAtTheClubs@reddit
Sure, I'm similar — mostly English DNA but a smattering of other European, including Germany
Total_Ask_2046@reddit
I'm sure I'm not the only one to say it but majority is different than plurality. There is no way that more than half of Americans are of German descent.... The only way that's true is that over half of Americans have SOME German descent, which still doesn't feel right. But it DOES explain our affinity for sausage. We'll, mine at least 🤤🤤🤤
OkayDay21@reddit
The US was an English colony. When German immigrants got here, it was already a primarily English speaking country. They assimilated. Except for the PA Dutch.
edparadox@reddit
Did you forget the whole British colony stuff?
dotdedo@reddit
My German grandparents stopped speaking German and refused to teach their kids it because they experienced a lot of xenophobia. They wanted to raise American kids, not German
raysebond@reddit
First, It isn't true that Germans are the "majority of Americans." People identifying as having German heritage make up 12% of the US population.
Second, German-speaking people came in small groups at different times as conditions in western/central Europe or opportunities in the US made it seem like a good idea. They didn't all show up at once. So they adapted to the language the vast majority were speaking.
Third, there are insular groups, mostly Amish and Mennonite, who speak Plattdeutsch.
Look, a lot of the questions that come to this subreddit seem to originate in the whole-hog acceptance of some meme or "soundbite." Just a little thinking would got a long way.
latin220@reddit
We used to have a version of American spoken German which was spoken in the Midwest and even in Texas. Written, spoken and used by thousands. Then the world wars happened and all that changed. We still have Pennsylvania Deutsch which is like 18th century German.
Swarmhulk@reddit
If is the key word.
What makes you think they are?
texasrigger@reddit
Regionally they are. Much of Texas was founded by German immigrants and German was a prominent language in those areas but fell out of favor thanks to two world wars fighting the Germans.
Current_Poster@reddit
The large German immigrant groups came after the foundation of the English colonies that became the US upon independence. They assimilated when they arrived.
texasrigger@reddit
German was a prominent language in areas with large German populations. Texas had its own German dialect that still exists in some places although it is dying out. However, there was a deliberate effort to abandon German in favor of English during the first half of the 20th C due to fighting two world wars against the Germans.
minnick27@reddit
Up until WWI German was the primary language in a good swath of the country, mostly in the Midwest. WWII was sort of the death of those German speaking communities.
Lawrence Welk was born and raised in North Dakota, but he didn’t learn English until he was 21 and went on tour as a musician. That’s why he had an accent despite being raised here
TheEvilOfTwoLessers@reddit
In the early days of the country when they considered if we would have an official national language, the choice was basically between English and German with many wanting German simply as an FU to England. And of course ultimately it was decided that an official national language was not the direction we wanted to go.
copnonymous@reddit
While a large number of the population was German, the colonies themselves were English. So all government matters and business were conducted in English. Also all political leaders and a lot of religious ones were English. Since it was required for official government documents it became the dominant language.
That's not to say it was the only language. In every day life a lot of the population still spoke their home language, German, Dutch, French, etc. in fact, the second language the declaration of independence was printed in was German to be spread around the 2/3 of Pennsylvanians whom were first or second generation German immigrants that came to Pennsylvania for religious freedom after the scars left by the religiously motivated 30 years war.
Euphoric-Bat7582@reddit
You may be referring to the myth that Germany was almost the official language and lost by one vote. That’s not true.
While German speaking newspapers and communities were common at one point, English was always the most prominent language.
The myth is based on when some German immigrants asked for laws to be translated to German. The vote decided that the government doesn’t need to translate laws for people, not in which language the laws would be written.
machagogo@reddit
Because it was a British colony, not a German one.
Then there were those pesky world wars, and people rejected the German language.
CK1277@reddit
The idea that the US has ever actually been immigrant friendly is a myth. Immigrants have nearly always been largely seen as a necessary evil. We needed cheap sources of labor but we didn’t want what we perceived as the dominant culture to be diluted.
The first major waive of immigrants to the US started in the mid 1800’s. At the same time, you started to see laws (1) requiring compulsory education up to the 8th grade and (2) banning foreign language instruction until after 8th grade. No one hid the ball on that one, it was done to intentionally inculcate children of immigrants into American culture.
d4sbwitu@reddit
The English settled the colonies. Simple as that. And if my German ancestors are any indication, they moved here and immediately started learning English. My mother's great uncle told her that his parents made them immediately start doing everything "as the Americans do." He wanted them to succeed in their lives and could only see that happening if they spoke English, and acted American.
The only thing that remains in my generation is that we make our sauerkraut German style, like GG grandma did. It goes well with the polska kielbasa from the Polish part of the family.
RunRunDMC212@reddit
Here is a timeline of German immigration to the US. It looks to have peaked between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries. According to the timeline, as of 2022, it is still one of the largest self-reported ethnic groups in the US.
https://guides.loc.gov/germans-in-america/chronology
The same site also has a tab about German language newspapers in the US. there aren’t as many still operating today, but at one point the German-American press was the most extensive of any immigrant group.
https://guides.loc.gov/germans-in-america/german-american-newspapers
Limp_Butterscotch945@reddit
According to Google, 12-13 per cent of Americans claim some German ancestry. Not close to a majority.
DiscontentDonut@reddit
We are actually a majority English. German is a close second, and Irish is third.
England colonized America, 13 states, starting in Virginia. That's why the American flag has 13 stripes.
A lot of other countries' citizens coming to America actually happened much later. Not to say it didn't happen at all in the colonization era, but for the most part it was really just the English.
Think about when the British Empire peaked. The 16-1700s were when they were focused on the "West Indies" which was a misnomer for the Americas. Napoleon wasn't as clever as he thought. It was after we were established and producing money for England via tobacco, corn, and other agriculture that they then moved on to try and conquer Asian lands.
More of our German and Irish heritage mostly came later during the time of Ellis Island. That was when we processed immigrants into the country via New York, during the late 18 and early 1900s. We had factories to work in, apartments to live in cheaply. Again, not to say other heritage didn't start before that, but that's when it really ramped up.
Even now, though German is in the 40+ million for heritage here, English still eeks out to be more by, I think, like a 1 to 2 million margin. I could be wrong.
Silver_Breakfast7096@reddit
The majority of Americans are NOT of German descent.
jord839@reddit
The dominant language was always English, and there was always extreme pressure of various kinds to force linguistic assimilation of all groups, even and sometimes especially Germans.
Beyond that, most white Americans are of mixed European ancestry, it's where we get all the "Oh, I'm X% Irish" comments that drive Europeans nuts. Germans were a plurality in the 2010 census as the largest single self-identified group, but I'm 2020 it shifted to English as fewer people picked the indistinct "American" that was often popular in heavily British Appalachia.
British was the original dominant ancestral/ethnic group, but Germans were always a significant minority in some states and later waves of immigration meant they were very common. Assimilation of German Americans, both self-driven and coerced by xenophobia at times, means German and WASP Americans are heavily intermixed with each other and a lot of people self-identify with German over English/Scottish/Scotch-Irish even if they have ancestry of both.
Scutrbrau@reddit
My Palatine German ancestors arrived in New York c. 1710. While they spoke German before arrival, they would have learned English once they got here since it was a British colony. The same goes for every other immigrant group.
Cancer_Heiress@reddit
Hi, local amateur historian here, in my neck of the woods an entire city was built by Germans for Germans. Buy a farm plot outside town, get a house for free in town. The city council recorded all meetings in German until the late 1800’s. Then the Feds came in and said all minutes must be in English. For a time they would still record in German then translate to English. Eventually all meetings were recorded in English. After the WW2, because of Nazi backlash, a lot of the original families sold their properties (often at a discount) to people of color (on purpose) to make their less tolerant neighbors angry.
WhatABeautifulMess@reddit
German ancestry is the largest chunk but it’s nowhere near a majority of Americans. Google says 12-17%.
Vexonte@reddit
Mostly because the English language cemented itself as the dominant language first that absorbed the German speaking immigrants as they settled over a longer period of time afterwards. There was also something about German stigma in WWI that incentived German Americans to Anglicanize.
MajesticBread9147@reddit
There used to be large German speaking communities in America, however the world wars that the Germans started made any implied association with them taboo enough that people stopped speaking it.
The only holdouts are the Amish.
Meilingcrusader@reddit
The English were there first and established the society. Germans moved to the US, some did actually keep speaking german for a while but during the world wars there was a huge campaign against the german language so its very rare nowadays
TillPsychological351@reddit
Head start.
English was established in what became the US from the start. There has always beem a strong tendency of immigrants to the US to culturally assimilate and for their descendents to intermarry and eventually lose contact with their ancestors language. Even today, we're seeing more and more Hispanic Americans whose first language is English and speak little to no Spanish.
Even so, German was the second language of the US up until WWI. Anti-German sentiment, though, effectively ended most identifiably German cultural markers in the country, including the language. It survived only among speakers of the Pennsilfaanisch dialect, and some isolated pockets in Texas and the Midwest.
JimTheJerseyGuy@reddit
German was probably at least as prevalent as Spanish is here now, if not more so. Sadly, anti-German sentiment during WWI and WWII put an end to all of that.
Logical-Pound-1065@reddit
There are certain areas of the country where Germans make up large percentages of ethnic origin in white Americans. The Midwest has a lot of German descended people. I’m from the Midwest and I know that part of my ancestry is German. I have found a lot of documentation from my German ancestors, a lot from my English ancestors, less from my Irish ancestors, and a surprisingly large amount from my Puerto Rican side.
But to answer the question, the British were the most successful of establishing colonies and English was well established and spoken amongst Europeans there. The Dutch and Swedish had smaller colonies, but nothing like what the British established. By the time the Germans started coming in significant numbers, English was cemented into the culture. There were places in the Midwest where people still retained the German language in their communities. There were German schools, German newspapers, etc. But anti-German sentiment from WWI put a stop to that.
chrysostomos_1@reddit
German descended Americans are a plurality not a majority. We moved into an English speaking place but for generations you could find German speaking communities.
Many American born germans preferred American culture to German. More egalitarian.
SecretVindictaAcct@reddit
Because we were a British colony with large amounts of German migration, particularly in Pennsylvania. Eventually the Germans assimilated to English culture and most “old stock” Americans intermarried anyway.
Buford12@reddit
It took generations. The church I go to Peace Lutheran in Arnhein Ohio was founded in 1835 all sermons and church business was conducted in German until 1900.
JaimanV2@reddit
Most Germans came much later to the United States. The original colonies were British colonies, so the dominant language was English.
When immigrating to a new country and having children, there is an intense pressure to conform to the language that most people around you speak. For example, I currently live in South Korea. If my wife and I have a child, they will mostly be a native Korean speak first because of the pressure to know and speak Korean. Same application with the United States.
skripachka@reddit
Wisconsin had German language schools for a super long time. I have an inkling that certain wars made it less popular.
MaximusSaturday@reddit
Definitely not a majority. The 2020 census reported around 45 million Americans said they have German ancestry. That’s around 13-14% of the population. According to the 2020 census there were more with English ancestry (the numbers vary between sources though so it’s difficult to say which ancestry group is largest with completer certainty).
pkondas@reddit
A KEY part was Wold War I. Up until that part, major sections of Ohio (and I believe the midwest) were still German speaking majorities. The war resulted in campaigns to “Americanize” and be less German. This helped solidify English across the region.
GSilky@reddit
Certain periods of sustained focus of teaching English, and its the language of commerce, government, and the arts. Eventually Germans had to learn English if they were going anywhere besides a farm in the USA. It wasn't easy or uniform, depending on what time period and area someone migrated to, English would be forced or completely ignored. As late as the 1940s, Nebraska had Swedish and German newspapers circulating, because in the mid 19th century to the early 20th, teaching people English wasn't a focus.
OrcaFins@reddit
British colonists were in America for hundreds of years before any significant numbers of German immigrants arrived.
AnswerGuy301@reddit
The Germans mostly got here too late.
BrilliantDishevelled@reddit
German heritage was hidden due to WWI and WWII
Astronaut6735@reddit
Your premise is incorrect.
Ceorl_Lounge@reddit
Germans came to be sure, but the Founders were primarily British or of British descent. The Government and law are British in origin and the founding documents are in English. Germans kept coming too in multiple waves... and then assimilated into a primarily English speaking country.
Efficient-Badger1871@reddit
Because your original "IF" is incorrect.
CaptainAwesome06@reddit
German descent only makes up about 13%-16% of Americans. Hardly the majority. However, it may be the largest group (depending on your source) so you may be able to consider it a plurality.
But also, those Germans settled in a country that was founded by Englishmen. It was an English colony before anything else.
brenawyn@reddit
They learned the language when they arrived on boat.
funsk8mom@reddit
You need to pick up a US history book and learn about how the US came to be
J-Dirte@reddit
The Kaiser
pmorter3@reddit
does the American Revolutionary War ring a bell?
damutecebu@reddit
Because English was the prominent language from the times when England colonized what became the original United States.
NaomiiiTwinz@reddit
I think it's mainly self reported German descent, but most may be of English or Scottish.
German was very popular but got erased after WW1.