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

Noah Webster was America's patriot armed with the pen. He defined 12,000 new words, while using language to establish a powerful new national identity.

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." "The little band of militia men from the West Division of Hartford … were most willing to fight and die for their country."  "He was on top of the word ‘immigrant’ almost from the get-go."  "Let us then seize the present moment, and establish a national language, as well as a national government." Kerry J. Byrne is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.

"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.