In the thirteen, English and German were the two largest language groups in the country at the time. When the colonies began to rise against the British, the Articles of Confederation were printed in both languages. However, when the revolution was won, English seemed to be the most popular. In fact, Congress voted to publish all present and future laws in English, alone. English was beginning to dominate. Today, it is a different story, however. .
This country was also founded on freedom, freedom of speech being one of the most important elements. If you ban all other languages besides English, you take away this freedom. People that are against having an official language believe "English-Only measures are divisive and incite discrimination against those Americans whose first language is not English- (Menard 68). And some people who come to this country do not want to speak English; they are comfortable with their native tongue and think they can get by just fine without knowing the language of our country. "In a poll done in South Florida, eighty-three percent of Hispanics agreed that it's easy to get along day in and day out without speaking English well/at all'- (U.S. English 8). If it's that easy, then why should they have to learn?.
This country was founded on the immigrants who brought their cultures into this nation to make it what it is today. When you take away the language of a group of people, you are taking away their culture. The mixture of cultures from around the world into one nation is what makes our country unique. People should be able to speak whatever language they want in the country because that is part of what our country is built upon. If we take away the languages, we are erasing an important part of our American heritage. .
The immigrants who built this country bilingual, however. They needed to speak English to land a job and communicate with friends, neighbors, and coworkers.