Wir sind aus Amerika

As is commonly known, much of the white population of America is Germanic in origin. I heard somewhere that at one point English was chosen over German as the language of the US by only a slim margin. What if this had been different, and with some other changes, the United States becomes a nation of mainly German and not British influences?

Firstly, how could this happen? I don't know much pre-20th century history, so
I’m afraid I can’t add anything to this section. If a culturally German USA is implausible, please say why.

Second and most interestingly, what would the effects of a German Amerika be? How would the power of the British Empire be affected, would English or German (or neither) become the world's major language by the late 20th century, or how would the World Wars be affected?

Oh, and has this been done before?

 
This has been done before and, IIRC, there wasn't really any chance of German being adopted as the 'national language'. There is some decision to print some government documents in German in order to distribute them to German speaking citizens, but that was about all.
 
As is commonly known, much of the white population of America is Germanic in origin. I heard somewhere that at one point English was chosen over German as the language of the US by only a slim margin. What if this had been different, and with some other changes, the United States becomes a nation of mainly German and not British influences?

Firstly, how could this happen? I don't know much pre-20th century history, so
I’m afraid I can’t add anything to this section. If a culturally German USA is implausible, please say why.

Second and most interestingly, what would the effects of a German Amerika be? How would the power of the British Empire be affected, would English or German (or neither) become the world's major language by the late 20th century, or how would the World Wars be affected?

Oh, and has this been done before?


The "narrow margin" is a myth. There were plenty of German towns by the ARW (also Dutch and Swedish in their former colonies, as you say "Germanic)", but the colonies were overall overwhelmingly Anglophone and there was no question as to their language.

There were several discreet waves of Germans and Germanics. Religious refugees on the frontiers of Virginia were a differant kettle of fish from economic migrants on the Great Plains, and the Swedes in Delaware and in Wisconsin have rather differant origins.
 
I am currently reading a newly published book that looks like it may address this point, at least in passing. Replenishing the Earth, By James Belich
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Here is a review from the UK

I think his view is that the German migration was never in serious danger of dominating US Anglo culture and that it may have been rather overstated. He also notes that German migration was actually pretty high to some places like NZ or Australia which are/were very Anglo. also without much long term effect on their cultures
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...ishing-the-earth-by-james-belich-1728872.html
 
As is commonly known, much of the white population of America is Germanic in origin. I heard somewhere that at one point English was chosen over German as the language of the US by only a slim margin. What if this had been different, and with some other changes, the United States becomes a nation of mainly German and not British influences?

Firstly, how could this happen? I don't know much pre-20th century history, so
I’m afraid I can’t add anything to this section. If a culturally German USA is implausible, please say why.

Second and most interestingly, what would the effects of a German Amerika be? How would the power of the British Empire be affected, would English or German (or neither) become the world's major language by the late 20th century, or how would the World Wars be affected?

Oh, and has this been done before?


The story of german almost being the national language is Apocriphal (sp?). English was never chosen over german as the national language; the united states does not have one. various states have declared english the national language, and english is the de facto national language effectivly by default. The legend arose when Congress rejected a petition by german-americans to translate new laws into german by a fairly slim margin.

German being the language of government on at least a local level is quite possible, as the states have tremendous leeway on local government, and we could easily see german being the language of government in, say, german-majority states in the midwest. But for german to dominate nationally, you would need a lot more german immigrants a lot earlier in American history.
 
At one point during colonial times, about one third of the population in Pennsylvania spoke a form of German as their first language, particularly in rural areas, but that's about the extent of it. It could be possible to maintain this large number of German speakers and make Pennsylvania an official or de facto bilingual state like Hawaii, Louisiana, and New Mexico, but the idea that German was seriously considered to be the official language of Pennsylvania or the United States as a whole in OTL is a myth.
 
I remember hearing about this "German was almost adopted" stuff as a kid in Junior High from my American history teachers (This would be in the early 1960's). Even then, it didn't make any sense to me that a universally anglophone set of founding fathers who believed in little government intrusion in civil life would suddenly mandate that any language - let alone German - should be the offical language of their new nation. To my knowledge, there is no serious source which would support this idea. I must admit it did sound cool to a 13 year-old kid in 1962. Maybe it's the "coolness" f or "wierdness" factor which keeps this pseudo historical claim alive.
 

Susano

Banned
As is commonly known, much of the white population of America is Germanic in origin.

*eyebrow twitch (C)*
Well, yes, almost all of the white population, because the term Germanic includes English and is not merely a fancy term for German! Really, germanic doesnt mean German, but refers to a lingual-ethnic group that includes German, but also English. Please use the correct terms, as that German/Germanic mixups are annoying...

The legend arose when Congress rejected a petition by german-americans to translate new laws into german by a fairly slim margin.
The version I have heard is that it was only voted on to refer it to a comitee, and that that motion was defeated by a slim margin.
 
*eyebrow twitch (C)*
Well, yes, almost all of the white population, because the term Germanic includes English and is not merely a fancy term for German! Really, germanic doesnt mean German, but refers to a lingual-ethnic group that includes German, but also English. .

This is exactly correct:cool:
 
Horribly unlikely to have a majority German-speaking US in total, but its easily possible to have Germans not assimilate as much after the waves of the 1800's. Large portions of the country(particularly the midwest) would then speak german as at least a second language and it would probably count as the second most used language in the country. At least until Spanish starts on the upswing...
 
As a general thought: English has become and, until now, remained the dominant
language of international commerce only because it is and was the major language
of both the British Empire and the United States.

If another language would prevail in the United States, but the US are as successful
politically, economically, and in military respects as in reality, then I am convinced that
no language, not even that of the US, would be as much as a standard as English is
at the moment.
 
*eyebrow twitch (C)*
Well, yes, almost all of the white population, because the term Germanic includes English and is not merely a fancy term for German! Really, germanic doesnt mean German, but refers to a lingual-ethnic group that includes German, but also English. Please use the correct terms, as that German/Germanic mixups are annoying...

Just as importantly, one should understand that the American racial mindset is, in ways, very old. The 'one drop' rule is how people decide their familial inheritance: If your great grandpa was a German immigrant, but the rest of your family was Anglo, you'd tend to self-report (how these statistics are gathered) as someone of 'German ancestry'. In reality the majority of people in the country can trace somewhere along their line of ancestry to find an original colonist, just like the majority of people can find a Native somewhere in their genealogical tree.

American assimilation works through inter-marriage: The first generation retains the culture and attitudes of the old country, they marry within their own immigrant group and general keep to their own communities; the second generation starts mixing with the rest of the American community, including other immigrants as well as natives, and some of them eventually marry outside their own ethnic group; in the third generation, more people marry outside their own ethnic group; by the fourth or fifth generation you're a fully mongrelized 'American' and are only vaguely aware of your ethnic past.
 
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