Today's Americans, celebrating the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, look back, as their predecessors have, to the wisdom of the early patriots for guidance concerning present-day social problems and issues. In 1987, as in 1787, America's linguistic diversity and cultural variety are seen by some as threats to national unity and by others as a primary resource for national strength. As the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia to solidify the new republic, one of every ten Americans spoke another language than English as their mother tongue. The largest minority language at the time was German, but sizable numbers of residents of the thirteen newly liberated states spoke French, Dutch, Spanish, and uncounted Native American and African languages.