9781422286180

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Southern New England: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island

Noah Webster (1748–1843), born in West Hartford, wanted the United States to be united by lan- guage. During the 1780s he pub- lished A Grammatical Institute of the English Language , popularly called the “blue-backed speller.” It standardized spelling and pro- nunciation of words for school children. Later he published the American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). He added American words like “skunk” and “squash” and used American, not British spellings for words like “color.”

the hull of an enemy ship and detonat- ed. The Turtle tried but failed to blow up British ships in the harbors at Boston and New York. However, some of Bushnell’s designs were incorporat- ed into later submarines. Today, the U.S. Navy’s main submarine base is located on the Thames River at Groton. After the Revolutionary War ended in victory for the Patriots in 1783, the states had to find a way to work togeth- er. Their first attempt to form a united government, under the Articles of Confederation, was a failure. In 1787,

1781, this time leading British troops on a raid of the Connecticut seaport at New London. That battle was bloody and controversial, as Arnold’s men massacred 150 members of Connecticut’s militia who were trying to surrender. After the war ended, Arnold spent the rest of his life in Canada and London. David Bushnell produced the most unusual invention of the Revolution. In 1775, he built the first submarine. The one-man vessel, called the Turtle , carried a bomb full of gunpowder that Bushnell thought could be attached to