Muhlenberg legend

As Muhlenberg legend, the legend is called, after which it the time of the founding of the United States to have given a bill to introduce German as the official language. The law is to be failed in a single voice, saying to the opposition of the German and American speaker of the House Frederick Muhlenberg ( 1750-1801 ).

The rumor originated around 1840 and found by Franz von Löhers 1847 published book history and conditions of the Germans in America widespread. Löher describes the fact that the voices are equal like in a vote, if German is the official language in Pennsylvania should be. The speaker of parliament, a Muhlenberg was given by his voice the scales in favor of the English. The proportion of German immigrants in the United States was in 1830 when one-third in Pennsylvania and nearly nine percent across the United States.

There has never been a vote on an official language in the United States and also in individual states. However, German immigrants from Virginia focused on January 9, 1794 a petition to the House of Representatives with the demand, some or all legal texts continue to publish in German language in order to facilitate Germans who spoke no English, to the laws of their new home understand. The application was rejected or directly referred to the Main Committee, which rejected it by 42 to 41 votes. Frederick Muhlenberg, the Speaker of the House, took on not vote, abstained or were from the crucial 42nd vote. He is said to have declared to the fact that it is the better, the faster the Germans Americans would.

The United States has not imported any official language to this day and are worldwide one of the few countries without a de jure official language (where as the de facto official language English acts ). Especially in recent years, however, have a number of member States English as its official language defines (see official languages ​​in the U.S. states ).