ion", which was the idea that the favored misuse of language should be allowed to modify the instituted meanings of words to suit the habits of each following generation. The removal of vast bodies of knowledge and wisdom from public access creates a dangerous situation, however, Noah Webster understood the connection between physical liberty and liberty of thought. Further, he understood the meanings of words played a key role in a person's ability to develop a sound system of knowledge and principles based on unchanging absolutes. He also recognized the necessity of preserving the connection to our heritage of Liberty, as well as the failures of former systems of government and philosophy before the founding of our Constitutional Republic.Webster's importance does not rest only on the size of his work. He was the first authority to emphasize American rather than British usage and the first to list senses in the chronological order in which they made their appearance in the language. His etymologies were not entirely accurate by modern standards, but his precise definitions are models of lexical style. Also, by the inclusion of thousands of technical and scientific terms, Webster laid the groundwork for the modern comprehensive, rather than purely literary, dictionary. His Grammatical Institute of the English Language, in three partsspeller, grammar and reader, written from 1783 to 1785were the first books that earned the position of chief American authority on English for Noah Webster and the first of their kind to be published in this country (Baugh 360). The first part, the Elementary Spelling Book, helped standardize American spelling. It was the basic text used in schools and frontier children learned to read from it. About 1 million copies of the book were sold annually by 1850, although the population was under 23 million at that time. Noah Webster can truly be remembered as the Father of the American Dictionary. Because o...
