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In the years before World War I, schools in many cities had taught courses in the language of the major immigrant group, such as German. Historian David Tyack explains, “The Germans…were quite proud of their own language and tradition and insisted that their language be taught in places like…St. Louis and Cincinnati and Cleveland. Hundreds of thousands of children learned German or learned in German in public schools. And learned about the glories of Germany.” But by 1917, the United States was at war. Former president Theodore Roosevelt was among those leading the call for an English-only curriculum.
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