Hebrew as America's official language

As unbelievable as this seems, this actually almost became a reality. When the pilgrims aboard the Mayflower set off, their leader and the future governor of the Plymouth Colony William Bradford, studied Hebrew and had a great love of it as a holy language, and when they took a vote over what language was to be used in the new colony, Hebrew lost by one vote. Hebrew was still taught in institutes of higher education during the colonial era. In 1780, due to strong anti-British feeling, some Congressmen apparently seriously suggested that English be banned and Hebrew become the official language.

Suppose these proposals had come through. How would a Hebrew-speaking America have evolved?
 
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Well, the website of the New England Historic Society is currently down, so all I can offer is this: https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/72700/american-first-language-hebrew/#yS1fP1z29DQCyd1t.97 (yes, it's a pretty right-wing religious site, but it's still a news site).

Still very questionable. Yes, prominent people knew Hebrew back then, since it was the original language of the Old Testament. But I don't believe there was any serious attempt to make Hebrew America's official language, since after all, wouldn't you rather make German America's official language, with all the Pennsylvania Dutch (Deutsch) people and others?

I could be wrong, I would like evidence, and I especially wonder why this is never mentioned in the context of either early American history or Jewish American history.
 
AD, it would have been the official language of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; everyone else would be speaking English (except the Amish and the Pilgrims would be a curiosity like the isolationist Amish communities). It was the idea of ONE religious group that strongly identified with the Jews: the Pilgrims. It was just another idea that didn't take hold. Had the Pilgrims (Puritans) had their way in other areas, their interpretation would have been the religion of this NATION (a la England, a religious requirement for participation in public life & certain occupations). Thankfully, that didn't happen.

It is mentioned in the context of early American History, but only for those who are specializing in it; we also don't go into how some early American settlements around that time were people who were 'thrown out' of their original settlement over religious differences and how differing settlements had vastly different experience with Native Americans. You don't learn how each settlement handled its situation. History for most is a 'glittering generality' and omits the details that do not matter in the overall picture.

While the Pilgrims identified strongly with Israel, they used the New as well as the Old Testament and gave each equal value. They were NOT Jewish, so "Jewish American History" would have no reason to mention it.
 
AD, it would have been the official language of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; everyone else would be speaking English (except the Amish and the Pilgrims would be a curiosity like the isolationist Amish communities). It was the idea of ONE religious group that strongly identified with the Jews: the Pilgrims. It was just another idea that didn't take hold. Had the Pilgrims (Puritans) had their way in other areas, their interpretation would have been the religion of this NATION (a la England, a religious requirement for participation in public life & certain occupations). Thankfully, that didn't happen.

That would still leave a very significant part of the population speaking Hebrew, so it still could have become the official language over time. Especially when you remember that it was seriously proposed after the American Revolution.

While the Pilgrims identified strongly with Israel, they used the New as well as the Old Testament and gave each equal value. They were NOT Jewish, so "Jewish American History" would have no reason to mention it.

What do you mean by "Israel" in this context? The modern state of Israel would not exist for centuries, and I doubt they identified with the Jewish people, who were still of a different religion.
 
I seriously doubt it would catch on with the wider populace - but a small group of Hebrew-speaking puritan Protestants in Massachusetts is neat in itself; especially if that community persisted like the Amish
 
That would still leave a very significant part of the population speaking Hebrew, so it still could have become the official language over time. Especially when you remember that it was seriously proposed after the American Revolution.
Source on this? Hebrew was known by some well-educated people with an interest in theology, but trying to make the general populace learn it in an era before widespread public education would be impossible. In particular, the idea of banning English would go nowhere, if only because of civil liberties and states' rights.
 
That would still leave a very significant part of the population speaking Hebrew, so it still could have become the official language over time. Especially when you remember that it was seriously proposed after the American Revolution.

What do you mean by "Israel" in this context? The modern state of Israel would not exist for centuries, and I doubt they identified with the Jewish people, who were still of a different religion.

First paragraph: I have NEVER heard of it being "seriously proposed" AFTER the American Revolution. Please give me a citation for that. I do know that it was proposed by the MA Bay Colony as a way of separating themselves.

Which brings us to the second paragraph: I mean Israelites, the Biblical tribes, the descendants of Abraham's son with Sarah. They strongly identified with the Jews - they were persecuted for their strict beliefs, they felt they were surrounded by enemies (people of wrong faith, because their way was the only right way); and they used the Old Testament as the basis for law (none of Jesus' turn the other cheek for Pilgrims, they drove out people who established other states to get away from the oppressive Pilgrims).
 
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