This volume, published on the occasion of the American Bicentennial, is based on a revision of a 1963 German-language publication describing and analyzing the phenomenon of cultural and linguistic pluralism in American society. It is part of a series on bilingual education, intended to inform the public about how people have used bilingual education to educate their children. Chapter one outlines the constitutional and ethnolingual background and gives an overview of the main categories of language rights in the United States. Chapter two describes the extent to which the central government has or has not promoted languages other than English. Chapter three discusses American achievements in the area of toleration-oriented minority rights, and chapter four the achievements concerning promotive minority rights, granted to post-independence immigrant groups. Chapters five and six describe the promotive language rights meted out in the mainland area of the United States to "old settler" groups. The two following chpaters deal with nationality rights in outlying areas and overseas possessions. The final chapter presents a summary. Appendices contain: (1) a 1970 survey of mother-tongue statistics, listed by state; and (2) a listing of languages other than Spanish and English used in BEA-funded bilingual education projects in 1974-1975. (Author/AM)