Frederick Muhlenberg

Infobox Officeholder
name =Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg


imagesize =200px
small

caption =
order =1st & 3rd
office =Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
term_start =April 1, 1789
term_end =March 4, 1791 (1st)
December 2, 1793 – March 4, 1795 (3rd)
president =George Washington
predecessor =None; First in line (1st)
Jonathan Trumbull, Jr.
successor =Jonathan Trumbull, Jr.
Jonathan Dayton
order2 =Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's At-large district
term_start2 =March 4, 1789
term_end2 =March 3, 1795
predecessor2 =None
successor2 =John Swanwick, Richard Thomas, Samuel Sitgreaves, John Richards, Daniel Hiester, John A. Hanna, John W. Kittera, Thomas Hartley, Andrew Gregg, David Bard, Samuel Maclay, William Findley, Albert Gallatin
order3 =Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 2nd district
term_start3 =March 4, 1795
term_end3 =March 3, 1797
predecessor3 =Thomas Fitzsimons, John W. Kittera, Thomas Hartley, Thomas Scott, James Armstrong, Peter Muhlenberg, Andrew Gregg, Daniel Hiester, William Irvine, William Findley, John Smilie, William Montgomery
successor3 =Blair McClenachan
birth_date =January 1, 1750
birth_place =Trappe, Pennsylvania
death_date =June 4, 1801 (aged 51)
death_place =Lancaster, Pennsylvania
nationality =
party =Pro-Administration
Anti-Administration
otherparty =
spouse =
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =University of Halle-Wittenberg
occupation =
profession =Minister of religion
net worth =
religion =Lutheran


website =
footnotes =

Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg (January 1 1750 – June 4 1801), was an American minister and politician who was the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. A delegate and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and a Lutheran pastor by profession, Muhlenberg was born in Trappe, Pennsylvania.

According to an urban legend, Muhlenberg as House Speaker prevented German from becoming the official language of the United States. [http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/zwiebelfisch/0,1518,306711,00.html Bastian Sick: "German as the official language of the USA?"] ] [http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/kade/adams/chap7.html Willi Paul Adams: "The German Americans." Chapter 7: "German or English"] ]

Early life and ministerial career

Frederick Muhlenberg was the son of Henry Muhlenberg, an immigrant from Germany and considered the founder of the Lutheran Church in America. His brother, Peter, was a General in the Continental Army. Muhlenberg was born in Trappe, Pennsylvania.

He attended the University of Halle, Germany, where he studied theology, and was ordained by the Pennsylvania Ministerium as a minister of the Lutheran Church on October 25 1770. He preached in Stouchsburg, Pennsylvania, and Lebanon, Pennsylvania, from 1770 - 1774, and in New York City from 1774 - 1776. When the British entered New York at the onset of the American Revolutionary War, he felt obliged to leave, and returned to Trappe. He moved to New Hanover Township, Pennsylvania, and was pastor there and in Oley and New Goshenhoppen until August 1779.

Political career

Muhlenberg was a member of the Continental Congress in 1779 and 1780, and served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1780 to 1783 and was elected its speaker on November 3 1780. He was a delegate to and president of the State constitutional convention in 1787 called to ratify the Federal Constitution. He was the first signer of the Bill of Rights.

Elected to the First and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4 1789–March 4 1797), Muhlenberg was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives for the First Congress (1789-1791) and Third Congress (1793-1795). He did not seek renomination in 1796.

In 1794, during Muhlenberg's second tenure as speaker, the House voted 42-41 against a proposal to translate some of laws into German. Muhlenberg, who himself abstained from the vote, commented later, "the faster the Germans become Americans, the better it will be." Despite not even voting for the bill, an urban legend called the Muhlenberg legend was started, stating that he was responsible for not letting German become an official language of the United States.

He also according to another urban legend suggested that the title of the President of the United States should be "Mr. President" instead of "High Mightiness" or "His Elected Majesty".

Muhlenberg was also president of the council of censors of Pennsylvania, and was appointed receiver general of the Pennsylvania Land Office on January 8 1800, and served until his death in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on June 4, 1801. He was interred in Woodward Hill Cemetery there. After his death, the Township of Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania, was named for him.

ee also

* German in the United States

References

*CongBio|M001063
* [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/1700s/people/muhlenberg_fred.html Biography and portrait] at the University of Pennsylvania

Notes

Persondata
NAME= Muhlenberg, Frederick Augustus Conrad
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
DATE OF BIRTH=January 1, 1750
PLACE OF BIRTH=Trappe, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH=June 4, 1801
PLACE OF DEATH=Lancaster, Pennsylvania