The Founding Fathers of the United States placed great importance on the learning of foreign languages and on excellence in reading and writing English. Sacrifices in the curriculum in favor of English were justified by the desire that Americans speak and write English as well as the British. Above all, the Founding Fathers were concerned with the maintenance of democracy and an educated populace. To protect these values, they encouraged a common education and a break with European models. In the opinion of some, the study of Latin and Greek needed to be deemphasized and the study of modern languages to be promoted because of their value in many fields, especially science. In general, French was the modern language recommended by the founders; Spanish was the second choice. American school curricula have been established and have evolved in patterns appropriate for the United States; they should not be evaluated by European standards. A study of the writings of the Founding Fathers is enlightening for understanding American attitudes toward language study. Plans for the reform of language programs today should consider the views of the Founding Fathers and models should be based on America's own needs. Seventy-eight endnotes are appended. (NSE)