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Innovators and Inventions: The Course to Change, Page 9

Webster’s Dictionary

Webster’s background in education, combined with his political interests, allowed him to set about reforming the educational system within America during the early 1800s. Webster’s biggest complaint came in the instruction of content, primarily with language and reading. As a result, between 1783 and 1785 he published a series of books devoted to improving instructional reading and writing methodologies. Webster’s work eventually led to his compilation of the first dictionary published in America in 1825.

His work consisted of over 70,000 words. Webster’s contribution is considered unique in that some 12,000 words had never been published in a dictionary before his compilation.