[Verginius Rufus]

Once upon a time, you had to demonstrate the ability to read Latin and Greek to get into places like Harvard or Yale. In the 19th century, Cherokee Indian children in Indian Territory studied Latin and Greek in grade school.

Meyer Reinhold (1909-2002), a noted classicist, published a book called Classica Americanan: The Greek and Roman Heritage in the United States. I haven't gotten around to reading it, but it may cover some of the same ground as this book.

[Verginius Rufus]

Typo in my last post--that should have been Classica Americana.

[Little Bill]

In my prep school circa 1960, three languages, Greek, Latin, a Modern language, two for four years.

[AuntB]

“In the 19th century, Cherokee Indian children in Indian Territory studied Latin and Greek in grade school.”

You’re right about that. In the early 1800’s they were sending their children to New England and bringing in missionaries, teachers. The Cherokee learned to read and write their own language, as well as English, and other languages and converted to Christianity. After the trail of tears, they set up their own schools in Indian Territory west, which were
considered the finest in the nation. Most of my Cherokee ancestors were trained in the classics and were very good writers. I’m lucky enough to have many of their documents.
In fact, this ethnic group left the best written record of their history of any ethnic group.

But for some reason, we no longer expect immigrants to this country to learn English. If those ‘savages’ could do it, so can they.