Why The USA Did Not Have An Official Language For Almost 250 Years

English is used in the workings of the US government, the country’s founding documents, and the daily lives of most Americans — but has never been officially designated as the nation’s official language at the federal level. However, at least 32 of the 50 US states and all five US territories have recognized English as an official language at the state or territorial level.

This absence of an official language is pretty unusual, globally speaking. Approximately 180 countries across the world designate one, while over 100 recognize two or more.

Nations adopt official languages to streamline governance, define legal rights, and, in some cases, foster national unity. Others embrace multiple national languages as a way to reflect their diversity. To understand why the US never formally adopted an official language, you must go back to the 17th and 18th centuries when America was being forged. 

Why Didn’t The US Have An Official National Language Before?

While English was establishing itself as the most dominant language in the American colonies throughout the 1700s, there were still significant portions of the population who spoke the language of their homeland: German, Dutch, Flemish, French, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Polish, Gaelic, Portuguese, Italian, and more. 

As a multicultural country of migrants who spoke an array of different languages, it was deemed unfair to favor one language over any other. In 1780, John Adams proposed that English should be made the official language of the US to the Continental Congress, but it was deemed “undemocratic and a threat to individual liberty.” 

There is an urban legend that Congress came very close to approving German as the official language, but it didn’t pass due to one vote cast by Frederick Muhlenberg, the first Speaker of the US House of Representatives. While it’s a fascinating story, historians have largely debunked it as a myth.

What Will The New Official Language of the US Mean?

So, what impact will the latest executive order from Trump mean for people in the US and beyond? 

The order reads: “From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language. Our Nation’s historic governing documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, have all been written in English.”

According to the White House, “It is therefore long past time that English is declared as the official language of the United States. A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language,” it continues. 

The latest census data indicates that 78.3 percent of those ages 5 and older in the nation speak solely English at home. The second most commonly spoken language in the US is Spanish, and up to 61 percent of these Spanish speakers can additionally speak English “very well.” 

Given these demographics and the well-established dominance of English, some commentators have seen the move as largely symbolic, designed as a gesture from a president known for his hardline anti-immigration stance. 

However, the policy could have tangible consequences in the real world, particularly in determining whether federal agencies will continue providing information in other languages, most notably Spanish. 

Within hours of President Trump’s inauguration, the new administration took down the Spanish-language version of the official White House website, as well as the Spanish pages of the White House’s social media profiles. This new order suggests that actions like this could become more commonplace. 

As part of the order, the government will rescind a mandate issued during President Bill Clinton’s administration, which required government agencies and federally funded organizations to provide language assistance to non-English speakers.

“We see exactly what Trump is trying to do by continuing to put a target on the backs of Black and brown immigrants and communities who speak different languages and we won’t tolerate it,” Anabel Mendoza, Communications Director of United We Dream, a nonprofit immigrant advocacy organization, said in a statement. 

“Trump will try to use this executive order as a crutch to attack schools providing curriculum to immigrant students in other languages, gut programs and roles that help to promote inclusive language access, and embolden immigration agents to single out and harass individuals who speak a certain way,” added Mendoza.

Trump has maintained his stance on this topic for at least 10 years. In a 2015 debate during his first presidential run, he said: “We have a country where to assimilate, you have to speak English […] We have to have assimilation […] This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish.”

That said, the now-president has not always shied away from multilingualism. In his 2020 presidential campaign, he released several TV advertisements in Spanish in hopes of wooing Latino voters featuring the slogan “Por Trump”.