# A National Language Is a Band of National Union by Noah Webster > “A national language is a band of national union. Every engine should be employed to render the people of this country national; to call their attachments home to their own country; and to inspire them with the pride of national character.” > **— Noah Webster**, *Dissertations on the English Language, 1789* ## Sources and Context - **Primary source:** Noah Webster, [*Dissertations on the English Language: With Notes, Historical and Critical*](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45738/45738-h/45738-h.htm) (Boston: Isaiah Thomas and Company, 1789), Appendix, “An Essay on the Necessity, Advantages and Practicability of Reforming the Mode of Spelling”; Project Gutenberg transcription of the first edition, checked word for word. - **Exact original:** “Besides this, a _national language_ is a band of _national union_. Every engine should be employed to render the people of this country _national_; to call their attachments home to their own country; and to inspire them with the pride of national character.” The Reminder omits the connective “Besides this,” capitalizes “A,” and removes the source's italics; the words are otherwise unchanged. - **Context:** Webster argues that a reformed American spelling would require American printing and distinguish American books from English impressions, and adds this political reason as the capstone. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/War With Empire|War With Empire]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/war with empire/Authorship of the West|Authorship of the West]] - **Article:** [[articles/war with empire/The Monroe Doctrine, the British Substrate, and the Unfinished Decolonization of the Americas|The Monroe Doctrine, the British Substrate, and the Unfinished Decolonization of the Americas]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Authorship of the West|Authorship of the West]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Noah Webster|Noah Webster]] - [[wiki/An American Dictionary of the English Language|An American Dictionary of the English Language]] - [[wiki/Semantic Jurisdiction|Semantic Jurisdiction]] - [[wiki/Lexicographic Succession|Lexicographic Succession]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “A national language is a band of national union. Every engine should be employed to render the people of this country national; to call their attachments home to their own country; and to inspire them with the pride of national character.” — Noah Webster, Dissertations on the English Language, 1789 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-noah-webster-national-language-band-national-union ```