Colonial America: Why Do Americans Speak English? | 5-Minute Videos | PragerU
The Spanish got to the New World first. The French built the biggest forts. The Indians knew the land best. So how did the English come to dominate North America? Thomas Kidd, author of American History Volumes 1 and 2, walks us through the unlikely rise of the English colonies—and how they laid the foundation for the United States of America.
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Transcript:
Colonial America: Why Do Americans Speak English?
Presented by Thomas Kidd
Why do Americans speak English? Why don’t we speak Spanish? Or French? Or Algonquian, for that matter?
It may seem like a silly question, but it’s not. The Spanish were in the Americas for a hundred years before the English arrived in Jamestown in 1607. The French had a major military presence in North America and the largest army in the world for most of the 18th century. The Indians, of course, had been here for untold millennia and knew the land better than their European adversaries.
So, how was it that the English came to dominate them all?
Our answer begins with Columbus. When the great explorer opened the way to the New World, he oriented the Spanish not toward North America, but toward Central and South America. There, the Spanish discovered gold and silver, making them the richest and greatest power in Europe in the 16th century.
In 1588, they used those riches and their vaunted armada of warships to launch an invasion of England. But this attempt at conquest ended in disaster, thanks to a brilliant English naval strategy and a big assist from Mother Nature in the form of ship-destroying storms.
Spanish dominance of Europe ended with this defeat. Had things gone differently, it’s more than likely they, at some point, would have added North America to their empire.
The French also had a chance to take control of the continent. The explorer Jacques Cartier sailed into the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1534. French fur traders were doing business with the Indians not long after. To support the lucrative trade, the French built a series of impressive fortifications across North America. But as lucrative as the business was, it curiously never attracted many French settlers.
The Indians had a different problem: no immunity from European diseases. This turned out to be — unintentionally — the Europeans’ most powerful weapon in subduing the Native American peoples.
The other problem the Indians had was that they were completely outgunned. Europeans had weapons far in advance of anything the Indians possessed.
If timing is everything, the English arrived in North America at just the right moment.
The Spanish were spent, the French were indifferent, and the Indians were simply overmatched.
It’s not like the continent was handed to the English on a silver platter; it took 150 years and countless setbacks, disasters, and hardships for the English to pull it off. But they succeeded. How did they do it?
To answer that, we need to look at what distinguished England from its neighbors. Beginning with Magna Carta in 1215, the English, more than any other European nation, had a tradition — written into law — that respected individual rights and limited the power of the monarchy. While this tradition of liberty emerged in the British Isles, it found its most fertile soil in North America.
The Mayflower Compact of 1620, in which the Pilgrims committed themselves to establishing a self-governing colony, personified that tradition. An ocean away from the Mother Country, they had no choice but to rule themselves. And once they tasted true freedom, they couldn’t give it up.
The case of Roger Williams is a good example.
Williams argued bitterly with the Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts colony. They believed the state could command religious belief. Williams asserted faith was a spiritual matter between the individual and his God. Threatened with arrest, Williams slipped out of Massachusetts in the middle of a blinding snowstorm to avoid capture.
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The language of freedom?
Starmer says it still is, but his actions say different!
Arrogant presumptive Sassanachs – They cant help it.
the majority were English speakers
I'm English and even I didn't know this (to my shame!) 🫡
Did you know greed was the spur? The British colonists' rebellion was all about greed. They wanted to expand westward to take Native American lands. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 prohibited them from doing that. The Royal Proclamation continues to be very important to First Nations in Canada, being the first legal recognition of aboriginal title, rights and freedoms.
Victory against the mother country was the start of US expansionism, which would result in the genocide of Native Americans & obtaining greater territory through starting wars with Mexico, resulting in taking over half its territory. From greedy colonists to greedy Trumpists.
Greed was so endemic in the British Empire too that 60 years later the English forcibly grew opium in India to illegally smuggle into China. A bit like 19th-century drug cartels. When China tried to stop this, the British drug cartels called on the RN to bomb the Chinese into submission, then forced China to give them Hong Kong, occupied Shanghai, sacked Beijing, and burnt down the summer palace, then forced the Chinese to make opium legal.
As the famous symbol of American greed Gordon Gekko said, 'Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.'
Most Americans speak Spanish, some North Americans speak mostly English.
And now the (Fake news) puritans have been put back in power! Only this time with nukes and ai drones🙄
Well they’ll soon be talking Chinese
There is so much bias in this video, it omits so many details. He always states "the english" but that needs context. Roger Williams? There is a clue. England dominated the British Isles but it is not just one peoples.
So with all this free thinking how come you ended up with Trump?
Thank God for England. 🏴
Good video, but can we quit using the political term "Native American"? I am American and was born here; therefore Native American.
it's a pity they can't spell or pronounce english…it was the primitive settlers that changed true english itno some american subversion of it to this day
The Americans didn't fight the English…… it was English fighting English…… and as a englishman, born and living in England. It was because they didnt want to pay tax to the crown.
Americans do not speak English. They speak American.
They don`t
I didn't know they did speak English.
<IRELAND> has entered the chat.
They don't speak English Aks any American
Americans don't speak English.
The Mayflower was full of religious maniacs and they left England because it was so free and tolerant. These puritanism went to America because they wanted an extreme intolerant religious community that would force people to obey their religious belief.
Because the English colonised America
As an Englishman i found this very interesting. I've often wondered why some of our people left. Very educational.
Children generally start speaking the languages of their mother! That's why its called the Mother Tongue.
Even a prodigal son like the USA speaks the language of its Mother.
Do Americans really speak English? I think their obsession with their bottoms, has led to a whole new language I call Ass:-
Bad Ass.
Big Ass
Fat Ass.
Old Ass.
I got my Ass riding on this.
Get your Ass over here.
Laughing my Ass off.
Talking out of his Ass.
My Ass is on the line.
Stop being an Ass.
Offering his Ass on a plate.
Shouting his Ass off.
Etc etc.
It wasn't an act of nature that defeated the armada, it was the hand of God.
English is no longer the language of freedom in England, it is now Urdu and Arabic. If you speak English and not a Politician or Super Rich you are looked down on.
Beacaise they don't speak Chinese. Think, that is a stupid question.
Super interesting video!
I learned a lot form this video. Thanks, PragerU! 🙏