The Language Policies of the American Civil War (1861–65)

Czeglédi, Sándor (2022) The Language Policies of the American Civil War (1861–65). ALKALMAZOTT NYELVTUDOMÁNY, 22 (2). pp. 49-65. ISSN 1587-1061 (nyomtatott), 2498-4442 (online)

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Abstract

The article compares and contrasts orientations towards languages and linguistic diversity as reflected in the presidential and congressional documents of the Union and the Confederacy during the Civil War years. The analysis relies on a proposed language policy spectrum framework based on Spolsky’s language policy definitions (2004, 2009, 2019) and also utilizes Wiley’s language policy classification scheme (1999) as well as Ruíz’s orientations in language planning framework (1984) for a more in- depth discussion. The findings reveal that although both the Union and the Confederate Congresses mainly focused on practical, narrowly-defined language (micro)management concerns (i.e., on substantive, specific policies) which frequently either ignored or deliberately denied minority language rights, the North also made substantive, general language policy decisions by promoting the first, federally-endorsed Plain English campaign in the history of the United States.

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