Noah Webster (16 October 1758-28 May 1843) was a Federalist member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1800 and from 1802 to 1807, as well as the founder of An American Dictionary of the English Language, now Merriam-Webster.
Biography[]
Noah Webster was born in Hartford, Connecticut on 16 October 1758, and he graduated from Yale College in 1778 and opened a private school and wrote a series of educational books. A strong supporter of the American Revolution and the US Constitution, he believed in American nationalism and the superiority of American values over European values. In 1793, Alexander Hamilton recruited Webster to move to New York City and become an editor for a Federalist Party newspaper, and Webster became a prolific author. He returned to Connecticut in 1798 and served in the State House in 1800 and from 1802 to 1807; while originally an abolitionist, he later became alienated from the abolitionist movement. In 1806, he published his first dictionary, and, from 1807 to 1828, he worked on a comprehensive dictionary which would become popularly known as "Webster's Dictionary". He was also influential in the creation of the Copyright Act of 1831, the first major revision of American copyright law. He died in 1843 while working on the second volume of his dictionary, which was finished by George and Charles Merriam.