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Noah Webster, American Author
Webster, portrait painted by James Herring in 1833. Noah Webster, Jr. (October 16, 1758 - May 28, 1843), was an American lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English language spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and prolific author. He has been called the "Father of American Scholarship and Education." His blue-backed speller books taught five generations of American children how to spell and read, secularizing their education. He was by nature a revolutionary, seeking American independence from the cultural thralldom to Britain. To replace it he sought to create a utopian America, cleansed of luxury and ostentation and the champion of freedom. He also played a critical role lobbying individual states throughout the country during the 1780s to pass the first American copyright laws, which were expected to have distinct nationalistic implications for the infant nation. His name has become synonymous with "dictionary" in the United States, especially the modern Merriam-Webster dictionary that was first published in 1828 as An American Dictionary of the English Language. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the nation. He died in 1843 at the age of 84.
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