The colonists of the Thirteen Colonies did not only come from England. There were people from Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Scotland and the west coastCoast - A coast is an area where the land meets the sea. Côte - Une... of Africa. The Dutch living in New York and the Germans living in Pennsylvania retained their mother tongue for a few generations, but they would still assimilate into the English majority.
As for the black slaves, those in the North learned English, but the large landowners of the south wanted to limit their education. As a result, the southern slaves did not fully learn the English language; only the few words needed to communicate with their masters.
Over time, the English colonists continued to form the majority and dominated society, economy and politics. The English language had become the common language of the populationPopulation comes from the Latin populus, meaning “the people.” We say population when we talk about a group....
AuthorAuthor - A person who writes something Auteur - Une personne qui écrit quelque chose: Léon Robichaud
See also – Traces of the past:
