Muehlenberg Legend - no smoke without fire

 

As I have to read the book “Der Dativ ist dem Genetiv sein Tod” for my German class I came across the “Muehlenberg Legend”. Its content kind of surprised me and made me think back of my school days and my history classes. My history teacher was great! She really knew how to bring a subject alive and I loved listening to her thrilling stories which were sometimes even emotional.

While reading the pages about this story I realized that I have heard of this legend before. My history teacher told my class once that there had been a voting in the United States that prevented German to become the official language because of only one negative vote.
Of course I believed that and even told it to my friends because it seemed so exceptional! It could have been possible that the whole population of the United States of America speak my own language! In this case I wouldn’t be studying what I study today. Unbelievable!!
Well, it’s really not to be believed because it’s simply not true. Surprise, surprise! ;) 

According to the legend, Frederick Muehlenberg, a German-American and the first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, kept German from becoming an official language of the United States. But in fact there has never been such a proposal in the history of the States.

The kernel of truth behind this legend is a vote in the United States House of Representatives in 1794, after a group of German immigrants asked for the translation of some laws into German. The aim behind this request was to make it easier for the immigrating German population to understand the American laws and get used to them.
This petition was rejected by a 42 to 41 vote and Muhlenberg was later quoted as having said "the faster the Germans become Americans, the better it will be."

 

Some were relieved because of the final negative outcome of the petition, others were truly disappointed. As a lot of immigrants had big problems with the “American way of life”, some finally managed to get accustomed to America and even reached to identify themselves with what they called their new home. They produced new ideas and cultural values. Around 200.000 workers, gardeners and masons who build up the Central Park were of German origin.

Nowadays there can be found lots of German words in American like bratwurst, Blitzkrieg, edelweiss, hamburger or wunderkind. They are an essential part of the American vernacular language which is spoken by the largest part of the US-population. 

All this shows that legends are long-lasting and to finish: There’s no smoke without fire (;