Meet the American who defined a new national identity, Noah Webster, New England patriot armed with the pen

Born in the era of rebellion, Noah Webster used language to help the new United States declare cultural independence and unite its surging population with a common tongue.

Noah Webster fought for American independence with the one weapon mightier than the sword.

He wielded his pen with great influence on the identity of the sprawling, proud and ambitious new United States. 

The New England native’s impact on our national heritage proved far greater than just the new words of the American-English dictionary that still bears his name.

"Webster was very much in the truest sense of the word a patriotic American," Peter Sokolowski, "dictionary ambassador" and editor at large for Merriam-Webster, based in Massachusetts, told Fox News Digital.

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"He believed the new political America also needed a new cultural America, that there had to be cultural identity as distinct from Britain as our new political identity was distinct from Britain."

Webster was an outspoken advocate of American independence during the era of rebellion and early nationhood. 

American philologist, lexicographer and journalist Noah Webster (1758-1843), circa 1800.  (Archive Photos/Getty Images)

The lexicographer was pen pals with Founding Fathers John Adams, Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and the new nation’s greatest swordsman, George Washington. 

Webster has been dubbed "The Forgotten Founding Father," most notably in the 2012 biography of that name by Joshua Kendall. 

"Webster was very much in the truest sense of the word a patriotic American."

He was also known as "The Schoolmaster of the Republic" — a testament to the remarkable success of his spelling book,