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The Book of the Week is “The Forgotten Founding Father, Noah Webster’s Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture” by Joshua Kendall, published in 2010.
Webster was born in October 1758 in western Hartford, CT. His 1778 Yale class consisted of forty graduates. In the 1780’s, he created a spelling and grammar primer for early childhood education that improved upon the then-standard text. It used phonics to teach pronunciation. He believed that Americans– who had recently declared their independence from Britain– should develop their own style of English, to differentiate themselves.
In 1782, beginning with Maine and Vermont, northeastern colonies passed laws on the copyrighting of original literary works. Even though the U.S. Constitution was ratified in June 1788, federal law superseded state law only after Congress passed a law granting a fourteen-year copyright term in 1790.
Throughout his life, Webster propagandized via publishing inflammatory, libelous, anonymous writings in the major newspapers in the states in which he lived– Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.
Webster also was one of the first people to collect data on Americans. In 1785 and 1786, he traveled around the thirteen colonies and counted the number of homes (from a few hundred to a few thousand) in major cities. To financially support himself, he went on the lecture circuit. He was a capitalist at heart.
“Webster thus was counting on the Philological Society to help him cash in on the passage of the Constitution which suddenly improved the commercial prospects for his books.” He could sell his federally copyrighted book more efficiently with less competition, by arguing that standardized school curricula in all the states, would help unify the country.
However, around 1812, when Webster was elected as Representative in the Massachusetts statehouse, he reversed himself on Federalism, and instead advocated states’ rights. He jumped on the bandwagon in attempting to oust president James Madison. His political views were liable to change with his strategic interests– as do those of any opportunistic, power and money-hungry alpha male.
In late 1828, Webster’s American Dictionary, containing about seventy thousand words, was introduced to America. At the dawn of the 1830’s, “Having personally lobbied the executive and legislative branches of government, Webster did not neglect the judiciary. He was hoping to get the Supreme Court to unite behind a certificate in support of his dictionary.”
Read the book to learn about Webster’s other lifetime achievements, and his times.
As can be seen, there’s nothing new under the sun since Noah Webster’s generation. Here’s a song about that.
POLITICAL HEROES
sung to the tune of “Celluloid Heroes” (the long version) with apologies to The Kinks, and to whomever else the rights may concern.
Every candidate’s a schemer, and every candidate is bought, and every candidate hires bullies. Most lie without a second thought. There are fixers at every level, from the White House to the streets. And you can read about their districts and political-wards. Their myths are written with every tweet.
Don’t be unfair to The Donald, as you review his sordid past. He was persistently hostile and agile. He amassed enough power to last. He attempted a coup with his cronies, and sat himself on a throne, but he ended up golfing and babbling, because his dictatorship got old.
You can see armored cars as you drive around their districts and political-wards, bigwigs who have LEGacies. Most you’ve never even heard of. They have their entourages and consultants and volunteers in their campaigns. The ones who succeed have the best public-relations brains.
President Donald Trump looks very vacant indeed. AI software does his public-addresses. HE can no longer lead.
Avoid disparaging Donald Trump or you’re in for a legal fight, and worship Donald Trump because his was such a glorious life.
If you said “Voting for him, you’re garbage,” Donald Trump would smear you good, and when you voted against Donald Trump, he cried “fraud!” and sent in his hoods.
Please don’t TREAD now on dearest Donald, ’cause he’s actually TACO, not tough. He should have begun younger in campaigning. Too bad he’s only made OF flesh and blood.
You can see armored cars as you drive around their districts and political-wards, bigwigs who have LEGacies. Most you’ve never even heard of. They have their entourages and consultants and volunteers in their campaigns. The ones who succeed have the best public-relations brains.
Every candidate’s a schemer, and every candidate is bought, and every candidate’s in show biz. Most lie without a second thought. And those who are successful are always on their guard. They’ve got lawyers, judges and thugs, in their districts and political-wards.
Political life is a nonstop soap-opera media show. An angry, nasty world of real-life villains and heroes.
Political heroes always personally gain. And political heroes seize-the-day in their TIME.
You can see armored cars as you drive around their districts and political-wards, bigwigs who have LEGacies. Most you’ve never even heard of. They have their entourages and consultants and volunteers in their campaigns. The ones who succeed have the best public-relations brains.
Political heroes always personally gain. And political heroes seize-the-day in their TIME.
Political life is a nonstop soap-opera media show. An angry, nasty world of real-life villains and heroes.
Political heroes always personally gain. And political heroes seize-the-day in their TIME.