The English language: active and passive approaches

Official document from the Massachusets Board of Education

One of the main Americanization tactics used by the United States government was to ensure immigrants learned how to speak English. As stated in Section 1 of the document pictured to the left, a Massachusetts state Americanization Letter illustrates the United States’ active approach towards implementing English courses for those over the age of 21. 

[1] Massachusetts Board of Education. Department of University Extension. "Americanization Letter". By John Mahoney, Payson Smith, and James Moyer. Vol. 1. 1919.

Official document from the Bureau of Education 

The images below show the United States’ more passive efforts to promote the English language. As seen in the section labeled “The Foreign Language Press”, the U.S. government admits they will not stop publications in foreign languages. However, the U.S. government was anticipating that English would become so prominent, foreign languages would eventually become obsolete.

[2] Butler, Fred Clayton. "State Americanization: The Part of the State in the Education and Assimilation of the Immigrant". 1920. 10.