Given the numbers that Lynda provided, the German population was approximately 2.5% of the total population in the colonies in the 1770's and most of those were in one colony. I've looked here http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/ index.htm for the 56 signers & their birthplaces: Born in: the colonies 48 Germany 0 France 0 England 2 Ireland 3 Wales 1 Scotland 2 I don't identify any of the last names of the signers as anything other than English/Irish/Scotch with the possible exception of Clymer. The Pennsylvania signers were Clymer, Morris, Rush, Smith, Taylor, Franklin, Morton, Ross, & Wilson -- a rather Anglo bunch of names. My rusty recollection of U.S. History is that it was English and French, not German, political thought and philosophy that influenced the Declaration and the Articles of Confederation & the Constitution. So, whereas perhaps a third of the settlers in PA were German but less than 3% of the population in the colonies as a whole and no signers claimed a German birthplace, it's difficult to see to see a significant German influence in the founding & shaping of this country. I haven't done a search of 1770's place names in the colonies but I'm not familiar with anything more than a rare place name in New England that seems to have its origin in the German language. That there was ever a vote taken in the latter part of the 1700's to determine the official language of the new country seems a bit far fetched given the backgrounds of the signers. Richard On Jan 27, 2008, at 4:22 PM, Lynda L. Jones wrote: > "I've looked around the 'net only briefly but did not come across any > population numbers or percentage for German or Swiss-German settlers > in the colonies in the 1770's. Have you seen any such numbers?" > > Richard, > > You'll find that info on the Ships' Palatine Passenger Lists: > [1727-1775] > > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/7010/shiplists_pa003.html > > His total is 65,040. > > The total population of the US in 1776 was 2,527,450. > > http://www.populationinstitute.org/newsroom/population-news/?id=42 > > There were Germans and Swiss living here before 1727, but I can't > find a > number for that. The bulk of the Germans and Swiss came during > this period > of 1727-1775. > > Best wishes, > Lynda Jones > Bloomsburg, PA USA > > P.S. I'm renovating an old house preparing to put it up for sale. > If I owe > anyone a response, I'll get to it eventually. I'm basically > reading only > the top 5 or 10 e-mails in my Inbox, then I'm off to sand, paint, etc. > > _____ > > > . > Weberstedt, Thuringen, Germany - home of the Uttrodts > > Family names: Brong, Freitag, von Freitag, Miller, Prang, Savino, > Schueller, Uetterodt, von Uetterodt, Utterodt, Uttenrodt, von > Uttenrodt, > Uttrodt, Ottrott, Van Etten, Van Horn > Collateral lines: Dwyer, Eltus, LaFrance, Prentice, Smith > > -- > Resources for Alsace-Lorraine list members: > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~valorie/Alsace-Lorraine-L.htm > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ALSACE- > LORRAINE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Yes, the article merely says that Adams wanted an "academy" to "purify, develop and dictate usage of the English language", and his proposal was turned down. This was not an attempt to legally make English an official language as opposed to, say, German [or the Gaelic most of those Irish and a good many of the Scots probably spoke]. Seems to me Adams merely wanted an English language bulwark against the many other tongues flooding the colony. With, as Richard says, 2.5% of the colonials being of German origin, there's no way there would have been any idea of having German the "official" language of what were basically English colonies. What they did decide was that it was more "democratic" to let people speak whatever language they wanted. Nancy ------- I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days. --Daniel Boone On Jan 27, 2008, at 6:55 PM, RAM wrote: > Given the numbers that Lynda provided, the German population was > approximately 2.5% of the total population in the colonies in the > 1770's and most of those were in one colony. > > I've looked here http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/ > index.htm for the 56 signers & their birthplaces: > > Born in: > the colonies 48 > Germany 0 > France 0 > England 2 > Ireland 3 > Wales 1 > Scotland 2 > > I don't identify any of the last names of the signers as anything > other than English/Irish/Scotch with the possible exception of > Clymer. The Pennsylvania signers were Clymer, Morris, Rush, Smith, > Taylor, Franklin, Morton, Ross, & Wilson -- a rather Anglo bunch of > names. > > My rusty recollection of U.S. History is that it was English and > French, not German, political thought and philosophy that influenced > the Declaration and the Articles of Confederation & the Constitution. > > So, whereas perhaps a third of the settlers in PA were German but > less than 3% of the population in the colonies as a whole and no > signers claimed a German birthplace, it's difficult to see to see a > significant German influence in the founding & shaping of this > country. I haven't done a search of 1770's place names in the > colonies but I'm not familiar with anything more than a rare place > name in New England that seems to have its origin in the German > language. > > That there was ever a vote taken in the latter part of the 1700's to > determine the official language of the new country seems a bit far > fetched given the backgrounds of the signers. > > Richard > >

"My rusty recollection of U.S. History is that it was English and French, not German, political thought and philosophy that influenced the Declaration and the Articles of Confederation & the Constitution." "So, whereas perhaps a third of the settlers in PA were German but less than 3% of the population in the colonies as a whole and no signers claimed a German birthplace, it's difficult to see to see a significant German influence in the founding & shaping of this country. I haven't done a search of 1770's place names in the colonies but I'm not familiar with anything more than a rare place name in New England that seems to have its origin in the German language." In England, the American Revolution was referred to as the "Presbyterian" Revolution. Watch what you say about the Germans! We were the pioneers who went out, cleared the land, and created settlements. Boy, are we going to get in trouble for straying off topic. [Hi, Ewald and Etienne!] Best wishes, Lynda Jones Bloomsburg, PA USA _____ . Weberstedt, Thuringen, Germany - home of the Uttrodts Family names: Brong, Freitag, von Freitag, Miller, Prang, Savino, Schueller, Uetterodt, von Uetterodt, Utterodt, Uttenrodt, von Uttenrodt, Uttrodt, Ottrott, Van Etten, Van Horn Collateral lines: Dwyer, Eltus, LaFrance, Prentice, Smith . -----Original Message----- From: RAM [mailto:mcadict@comcast.net] Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 6:55 PM To: lynda@houseofwaterdancer.com; alsace-lorraine@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [A-L] Newspapers, Literacy and Genealogical Research Given the numbers that Lynda provided, the German population was approximately 2.5% of the total population in the colonies in the 1770's and most of those were in one colony. I've looked here http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/ index.htm for the 56 signers & their birthplaces: Born in: the colonies 48 Germany 0 France 0 England 2 Ireland 3 Wales 1 Scotland 2 I don't identify any of the last names of the signers as anything other than English/Irish/Scotch with the possible exception of Clymer. The Pennsylvania signers were Clymer, Morris, Rush, Smith, Taylor, Franklin, Morton, Ross, & Wilson -- a rather Anglo bunch of names. My rusty recollection of U.S. History is that it was English and French, not German, political thought and philosophy that influenced the Declaration and the Articles of Confederation & the Constitution. So, whereas perhaps a third of the settlers in PA were German but less than 3% of the population in the colonies as a whole and no signers claimed a German birthplace, it's difficult to see to see a significant German influence in the founding & shaping of this country. I haven't done a search of 1770's place names in the colonies but I'm not familiar with anything more than a rare place name in New England that seems to have its origin in the German language. That there was ever a vote taken in the latter part of the 1700's to determine the official language of the new country seems a bit far fetched given the backgrounds of the signers. Richard On Jan 27, 2008, at 4:22 PM, Lynda L. Jones wrote: > "I've looked around the 'net only briefly but did not come across any > population numbers or percentage for German or Swiss-German settlers > in the colonies in the 1770's. Have you seen any such numbers?" > > Richard, > > You'll find that info on the Ships' Palatine Passenger Lists: > [1727-1775] > > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/7010/shiplists_pa003.html > > His total is 65,040. > > The total population of the US in 1776 was 2,527,450. > > http://www.populationinstitute.org/newsroom/population-news/?id=42 > > There were Germans and Swiss living here before 1727, but I can't > find a > number for that. The bulk of the Germans and Swiss came during > this period > of 1727-1775. > > Best wishes, > Lynda Jones > Bloomsburg, PA USA > > P.S. I'm renovating an old house preparing to put it up for sale. > If I owe > anyone a response, I'll get to it eventually. I'm basically > reading only > the top 5 or 10 e-mails in my Inbox, then I'm off to sand, paint, etc. > > _____ > > > . > Weberstedt, Thuringen, Germany - home of the Uttrodts > > Family names: Brong, Freitag, von Freitag, Miller, Prang, Savino, > Schueller, Uetterodt, von Uetterodt, Utterodt, Uttenrodt, von > Uttenrodt, > Uttrodt, Ottrott, Van Etten, Van Horn > Collateral lines: Dwyer, Eltus, LaFrance, Prentice, Smith > > -- > Resources for Alsace-Lorraine list members: > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~valorie/Alsace-Lorraine-L.htm > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ALSACE- > LORRAINE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

... as did the Scots- Irish, the Huguenots, and the English early on. Nancy ------- I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days. --Daniel Boone On Jan 27, 2008, at 7:09 PM, Lynda L. Jones wrote: > "My rusty recollection of U.S. History is that it was English and > French, not German, political thought and philosophy that influenced > the Declaration and the Articles of Confederation & the Constitution." > > "So, whereas perhaps a third of the settlers in PA were German but > less than 3% of the population in the colonies as a whole and no > signers claimed a German birthplace, it's difficult to see to see a > significant German influence in the founding & shaping of this > country. I haven't done a search of 1770's place names in the > colonies but I'm not familiar with anything more than a rare place > name in New England that seems to have its origin in the German > language." > > > In England, the American Revolution was referred to as the > "Presbyterian" > Revolution. > > Watch what you say about the Germans! We were the pioneers who > went out, > cleared the land, and created settlements. > > Boy, are we going to get in trouble for straying off topic. > > [Hi, Ewald and Etienne!] > > Best wishes, > Lynda Jones > Bloomsburg, PA USA > > >