ABSTRACT
The United States of America is the most powerful exponent of the English language in the world today; paradoxically, it is also one of the major forces for the diffusion of Spanish. The emergence of an independent American republic reinforced these anti-Spanish notions, notwithstanding the fact that Spain had been an ally in our struggle against Great Britain. By declaring their independence from Spain, the Spanish-American republics momentarily redeemed themselves in the eyes of their North American counterparts. The American revolution was if nothing else a protest against the monarchical principle, against a state church, large standing armies, primogeniture, and the colonial principle. The policy was originally crafted to compensate African-Americans for past discrimination but has been extended since to cover other groups who can advance some plausible historic grievance. The victory of the insurgent side extinguished this utopian vision or consigned it to the area of nostalgia and fantasy.
