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Spain establishes missions in pre-California
Throughout the 1600s, Spain begins the colonization of California and institutes Spanish as the primary language. To this day, there remains a large contigent of Spanish speaking families in California. -
Articles of Confederation Ratified
When the Articles of Confederation were ratified by the 13 states; they were written in English, French and German (Diaz-Rico, 2012, p. 112). By removing the general government and replacing it with a federal government that provided more power to the government and less to the states. By writing these Ariticles in more than one language, it showed the diverse culture that existed within the United States at that time. It also allowed other from multiple countries to read these Articles. -
Cherokee Indians sign Treaty with United States Government
As a way to entice the Cherokee people to give up land, the United States government creaty a treaty with the Cherokee tribe. Article 5 of this treaty called for the Federal government to provide the Cherokee people $2,000 dollars for ten years, as well as provide a $1,000 dollars for the purchase of a printing press that would enable schools to educate students in English and the Cherokee language. Retrieved from: http://www.cherokee.org/AboutTheNation/History/Facts/TreatyofWashingtonII.aspx -
Louisiana alows bilingual instruction in schools
The majority of the state was French speakers and with no official state language, Louisiana authorizes bilingual instruction at public schools. The classes were authorized in French, English, or both, if the student's parents requested it. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Following the surrender of the Mexican army in Mexico City, residents of what are now California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah are allowed to continue using Spanish as their primary language. The Treaty, which also required the United States pay Mexico $15 million dollars (Gray, n.d.) allowed citizens to keep several civil and property rights. -
Native Americans Assimilated
Captain Richard Pratt convinces parents of the Rosebud and Pine Ridge reservations in the Dakotas to move 60 boys and 24 girls to Carlisle, PA boarding school. This act began the assimilation of over 30,000 Native American students into English speaking off-reservation schools. The students were often punished for using their native language and the assimilation schools were closed by the 1950s. -
Meyer vs. Nebraska
The Supreme Court rules that Nebraska's law that all students below the 8th grade will not be allowed to learn a language other English is un-Constistutional. The court case stems from a Nebraska court case in which a 10 year old student was being taught German in class without being in the 8th grade. Meyer was unsuccessful within Nebraska's court system, but found success with the Supreme Court marking the first true time language descrimination was brought before the courts. -
Lau vs. Nichols
The Supreme Court rules that San Fransisco was denying 1800 Chinese-American students equal rights to learn English in school under the 14th Amendment. Following this ruling, special language learning courses were mandated in schools for those who were learning English as their second language. -
No Child Left Behind
The No Child Left Behind Act is signed into action by President Bush. This program requires all schools that request federal funding to begin standardized testing for all students. This program includes standards that must be met by students with disabilities and those with language barriers, but teachers must remain fully qualified. This program has come under fire because of the standardized assessments, but remain a fixture in over 40 states in the United States. -
Williams et al. v. State of California et al.
Settlement date of a class action law suit brought against the state of California and its board of Education claiming that students were not provided adequate materials, adequate teachers, or adequate learning conditions for students to be successful. Schools began adapting a stricter regime prior to the settlement of the case, including replacing textbooks, creating a complaint system, and ensuring teachers were properly assigned and assessed.
