Noah Webster's An American Dictionary of the English Language
Poets involved
What happened
On April 14, 1828, Noah Webster published An American Dictionary of the English Language in New York, the first comprehensive dictionary of American English. This two-volume work contained about 70,000 entries, some 12,000 more than any previous dictionary, and included American spellings and pronunciations. Webster, who spent twenty-seven years compiling the work, aimed to foster a uniform language for the new United States and promote a distinctly American identity.
Literary impact
Webster's dictionary established an American standard for the English language, influencing the development of American poetry and literature. Its distinctive American spellings and usages were adopted by writers like Washington Irving, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Walt Whitman, who sought to create a distinctly American literary voice. The dictionary also contributed to the broader cultural project of defining American national identity through language.
Source: Wikipedia
