"Sturdy Home-dated Angles-bred Words": Anglo-Saxonism and the Racialization of American English

In the Early American Republic the discourse on the language spoken by the citizens of the United States tended to emphasize the “new circumstances” that inevitably called for linguistic change, as well as the need for a democratic tongue, different from the corrupt English of the British court. In the course of the nineteenth century, however, with the incorporation of large numbers of Spanish-speaking citizens following the Mexican American war and the arrival of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe, a celebration of Anglo-Saxon roots emerged in support of the ideology of Manifest Destiny. Accordingly, the rhetoric of the discourse on American English turned from the emphasis on change and the need for autochthonous standards in the linguistic practice of a democracy, to stressing continuity and origin. The Anglo-Saxon mold was portrayed as crucial in granting the national language its democratic and straightforward character.