Noah Webster

Noah Webster, America's first spelling guide publisher, talks about the power of words in shaping culture. From his legacy to modern debates on love and identity, language plays a vital role in society.

The conflict between Noah Webster and Joseph Emerson Worcester, and their dictionaries came to be known as the Dictionary Wars. To set the scene, part one covers the biographies of the two men. Research: "Joseph Emerson Worcester." Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/BT2310000221/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=28ed0fad. Accessed 13 June 2023. "Joseph Emerson Worcester." Oxford Reference. . . Date of access 13 Jun. 2023, https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803124726182 Amherst College Library. “An Exhibit Commemorating the 250th Anniversary of Noah Webster’s Birth October 16, 1758.” Archives and Special Collections Department. https://www.amherst.edu/library/archives/exhibitions/webster Bartels, Paul S. "Webster, Noah." American Governance, edited by Stephen Schechter, et al., vol. 5, Macmillan Reference USA, 2016, pp. 291-293. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3629100736/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=3724fc61. Accessed 13 June 2023. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Joseph Emerson Worcester". Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Mar. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Emerson-Worcester. Accessed 13 June 2023. Cassedy, Tim. “’A Dictionary Which We Do Not Want’: Defining America against Noah Webster, 1783–1810.” The William and Mary Quarterly , Vol. 71, No. 2 (April 2014). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5309/willmaryquar.71.2.0229 Cmiel, Kenneth. "Dictionaries." Dictionary of American History, edited by Stanley I. Kutler, 3rd ed., vol. 3, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003, pp. 22-23. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3401801214/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=b1842afb. Accessed 13 June 2023. Dobbs, Christopher. “Noah Webster and the Dream of a Common Language.” Connecticut History. 5/28/2021. https://connecticuthistory.org/noah-webster-and-the-dream-of-a-common-language/ Garner, Bryan A. "Under an Orthographic Spell: Part I." National Review, vol. 75, no. 2, 6 Feb. 2023, p. 50. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A734881576/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=705eb3a3. Accessed 13 June 2023. Garner, Bryan A. "Under an Orthographic Spell: Part II." National Review, vol. 75, no. 4, 6 Mar. 2023, p. 46. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A737639557/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=59f8ff8f. Accessed 13 June 2023. McDavid, Raven I.. "Noah Webster". Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 May. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Noah-Webster-American-lexicographer. Accessed 14 June 2023. McHugh, Jess. “The Nationalist Roots of Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary.” The Paris Review. 3/30/2018. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/30/noah-websters-american-english/ Merriam-Webster. “Noah Webster and America's First Dictionary.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/about-us/americas-first-dictionary Micklethwait, David. “Ghost-hunting?: The Search for Henry Bohn's First Worcester Dictionary.” Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America, Volume 38, Issue 1, 2017, pp. 47-66. https://doi.org/10.1353/dic.2017.0001 Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society. “Noah Webster History.” https://noahwebsterhouse.org/noahwebsterhistory/ Skinner, David. “Noah Webster, Chronicler of Disease.” HUMANITIES, Spring 2021, Volume 42, Number 2. https://www.neh.gov/article/noah-webster-chronicler-disease Yazawa, Melvin. “Webster, Noah.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/68670 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.