Noah Webster
Born:
West Hartford; October 16, 1758
Died: New Haven; May 28, 1843
Entry
by Albert E. Van Dusen
see
also: A Connecticut
Yankee Doodle Dandy.
Lexicographer,
schoolteacher, and philologist, Webster was graduated in 1778
from Yale College where he became imbued with revolutionary ideals
and political independence. Trying schoolteaching, he soon turned
to the study of law, being admitted to the bar in 1781. Soon afterwards
he began preparation of a book which heralded a new system of
American education, one not dependent on England.
In
1783 he published the first volume of A Grammatical Institute
of the English Language, later known popularly as the "Blue-Backed
Speller." He conceived it as a demonstration of his fervent
belief in liberty and cultural independence for the United States
and his desire for uniformity in speech and language. During
the
1780s he wrote and lectured widely on the need for a powerful
central government and an increased sense of nationalism, believing
that only a strong union could insure liberty. Parts two and
three
of his Institute, a grammar and reader, appeared in 1784
and 1785, completing his plan for the improvement of American
education.
The
large sales of his books led him to campaign for a uniform Federal
copyright law to protect authors. His steady agitation succeeded
in obtaining a Connecticut act in 1783, the first in America,
and a Federal law in 1790.
A
steady stream of important works followed his initial ones: Sketches
of American Policy, one of the earliest pamphlets advocating
a strong Federal government (1785); An Examination into the
Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, defending
the organization of government proposed in the Constitution (1787);
Dissertations on the English Language, a study of comparative
philology and reforms in spelling which predicted the development
of an American language far different from English (1789); Rudiments
of English Grammar (1790); A Collection of Essays and Fugitiv
Writings, encompassing his new mode of spelling (1790); Effects
of Slavery, on Morals and Industry (1793); A Brief History
of Epidemic and Pestilential Diseases (two volumes, 1799);
Elements of Useful Knowledge, presenting a survey of United
States sciences and history (four volumes, 1802-1812); A Compendious
Dictionary of the English Language, his first dictionary (1806);
A Dictionary of the English Language (1807); Letters
to a Young Gentleman Commencing His Education, concerning
government, philology, and religion (1823); An American Dictionary
of the English Language, America's first work of "monumental
scholarship," (two volumes, 1828); History of the United
States (1832); and the crowning work of his career, The
Holy Bible ... with Amendments to the Language (1843).
His
talents also included founding and editing The American Mercury,
a daily paper in 1793; and The Herald, A Gazette for the Country
a semi-weekly paper in 1794. Numerous articles in periodicals
and minor works appeared under his name. His dictionary definitions
had clarity, reflected American as well as English forms, and
his final one had nonliterary words as well as Americanisms. His
dictionaries set the standard for generations to come.
A
great patriot, he realized that a successful union is built not
of policies or laws or of political and economic advantages but
of all of them forged together to create a unified and free America.
He was indeed the "Schoolmaster to America."
For
Further Reading
Warfel,
Hany R. Noah Webster Schoolmaster to America. New York,
1936.
Babbidge,
Homer D., Jr., ed. Noah Webster: On Being American, Selected
Writings, 1783-1828. New York, 1967.
*
Entry under revision.
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