A letter to the editor of a California newspaper railed against bilingual ballots because “the language of this country has been English.” The writer lived in Paso Robles and the newspaper is in San Luis Obispo. The names of these two cities suggest that the writer missed something about the linguistic landscape of the United States.

Although English has been the dominant language of the country for more than two centuries, the United States has always been a multilingual nation.

Even before the formal establishment of the United States as an independent country, many Native American languages were spoken alongside of English and Spanish. Spanish, in fact, has been a constant presence in significant sections of the United States, particularly in the Southwest and Southeast. For several centuries Spanish was the dominant language in these areas.

The names of many states, rivers, cities, counties and lakes are obvious reminders of this linguistic presence.

In the early years soon after the Declaration of Independence a number of languages were being used in the 13 original states. Because there was such great animosity against the English, German was even considered as the language for the new country.

Indeed, German was so widely used that in the 18th century Benjamin Franklin complained about German-English bilingual street signs in Philadelphia. Franklin was also concerned that the prevalence of the German language might end up requiring interpreters in the Pennsylvania’s Parliament.

Many other languages have been part of the American historical landscape. Even today 329 foreign languages are spoken in the United States. Some languages have very small numbers of speakers. Americans have probably never heard of Zuni, Cushite, Amharic or Hidatsa. Yet, America holds among its inhabitants speakers of these languages.

In spite of the presence of these languages English remains the language of government, education, business, and just about every endeavor.

If you want to get ahead in the United States, you need to learn English. It’s possible to live in the United States on the fringes of society with just another language, but English is the key to the land of opportunity.

That is not to say, however, that other languages are not useful in many parts of the country. Spanish, in particular, is very beneficial because of the high number of speakers in the United States. This is due in part to geography but also because of the weak economic conditions of Spanish-speaking countries, especially Mexico, which pushes people to come to the United States.

Yet, this bilingualism or indeed multilingualism is becoming a serious concern to some Americans. That’s the only way to explain the virtual elimination of bilingual education programs in California and Arizona and the declaration of English as the official language in 27 states. Some people fear that the presence of many languages might lead to a possible break up of the country as it might happen in Canada.

History teaches, however, that languages do not cause countries to fall apart. If languages were to do that, Switzerland, which had three official languages, must have been crazy since it recently added English as its fourth one. If two languages were to be the cause of problems, then four should create a basket case. The fact is that Switzerland – in spite of its languages or maybe in part because of them – is a very prosperous nation with a very high standard of living.

Problems in countries arise not because of languages but because of economic, political and social conflicts. Certainly, the problems of Northern Ireland cannot be attributed to language since both the Protestants and Catholics speak the same language. And in other hot spots around the world such as Korea, the Middle East and Kashmir it’s something other than language that causes the conflicts. In essence, monolingualism, even if it can be achieved, does not ensure peace and prosperity.

The strength of America has always been and will continue to be its people and our ability to integrate the energy brought in by immigrants. Regardless of what language people brought into this country, their contributions have built the nation. The presence of many languages in the United States, a fundamentally English-speaking country, has not deterred it from prospering. On the contrary, the languages and the people represented by them have made that prosperity possible. As long as immigrants keep coming to the United States bringing their talents and their languages, it means that the United States is a very desirable place to be. When immigration stops, it means that America’s decline has begun.

Domenico Maceri, a columnist for www.HispanicVista.com, teaches foreign languages at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, Calif.