Editing English-only movement (section)

==Early efforts==
Disputes between citizens and immigrants over English have been waged since the 1750s, when street signs were changed in Pennsylvania to include both English and German languages to accommodate the many German immigrants.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book|last1=Rich|first1=Alex|last2=Vance|first2=Noelle|chapter=English As A National Language: An Overview |title=Points of View: English As National Language|date=March 1, 2016}}</ref> The German-English debate continued until [[World War I]] when international hostility resulted in the rejection of all things German, including the prohibition of the German language and German-language materials, particularly books.<ref name=":0" />

In 1803, as a result of the [[Louisiana Purchase]], the United States acquired [[French language|French]]-speaking populations in [[Louisiana]]. As a condition to [[admittance to the Union]], Louisiana included in its constitution a provision, which was later repealed, that required all official documents be published in the language "in which the [[United States Constitution|Constitution of the United States]] is written". Today, Louisiana has no law stating that English is the official language of the State.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://njlaw.rutgers.edu/cgi-bin/constitution.cgi?funct=1&state=LA&document=LA003&page=0012&zoom=120|title=Current Document for Louisiana, Constitution-1812|last=|first=|website=Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey|access-date=June 30, 2024}}</ref>

After the [[Mexican–American War]] (1846–1848), the United States acquired about 75,000 [[Spanish language|Spanish]] speakers in addition to several [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|indigenous language]]-speaking populations.

An 1847 law authorized Anglo-French instruction in public schools in Louisiana. In 1849, the [[California constitution]] recognized Spanish language rights. French language rights were abolished after the [[American Civil War]].<ref name="leginfo.legislature.ca.gov">{{Cite web |title=Codes: Codes Tree - * California Constitution - CONS |url=https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codesTOCSelected.xhtml?tocCode=CONS |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=leginfo.legislature.ca.gov}}</ref> In 1868, the [[Indian Peace Commission]] recommended English-only schooling for the [[Native American in the United States|Native Americans]]. In 1878–79, the California constitution was rewritten to state that "[a]ll laws of the State of [[California]], and all official writings, and the executive, legislative, and judicial proceedings shall be conducted, preserved, and published in no other than the English language."<ref name="leginfo.legislature.ca.gov"/>

In the late 1880s, [[Wisconsin]] and [[Illinois]] passed English-only instruction laws for both public and parochial schools.

In 1896, under the [[Republic of Hawaii]] government, English became the primary medium of public schooling for [[Hawaii]]an children. After the [[Spanish–American War]], English was declared "the official language of the school room" in [[Puerto Rico]].<ref>{{cite book|first=James|last=Crawford|title=At War With Diversity: U.S. Language Policy in an Age of Anxiety|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vuH5zFBsQxEC|year=2000|publisher=Multilingual Matters|isbn=978-1-85359-505-9|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vuH5zFBsQxEC&pg=PA17 17]}}</ref> In the same way, English was declared the official language in the [[Philippines]], after the [[Philippine–American War]].

In 1907, [[US President]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]] wrote, "We have room for but one language in this country, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American [[nationality]], and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house."<ref>Roosevelt, Theodore, ''Works'' (Memorial ed., 1926), vol. XXIV, p. 554 (New York: Charles Scribner's 11 Sons).</ref>

During [[World War I]], there was a widespread campaign against the use of the [[German language]] in the US; this included removing books in the German language from libraries.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|last=Martin|first=James J|author-link=James J. Martin (historian)|title=An American Adventure in Bookburning in the Style of 1918|publisher=Ralph Myles Publisher|year=1988}}</ref> (A related action took place in [[South Australia]] as well with the Nomenclature Act of 1917. The legislation renamed 69 towns, suburbs, or areas that had German names.)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Leadbeater |first=Maureen M |title=German Place Names in South Australia |url=http://www.adelaideco-op.familyhistorysa.info/germanplacenames.htm |access-date=December 29, 2007 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1923, a bill drafted by Congressman [[Washington J. McCormick]] became the first proposed legislation regarding the United States' national language that would have made "American" the national language in order to differentiate [[American English]] from [[British English]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/>