Topic summary
American English spelling
Extracted from the Wikipedia article American and British English spelling differences.
Historical origins
In the early 18th century, English spelling was inconsistent. These differences became noticeable after the publication of influential dictionaries. British English spellings mostly follow Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), while many American English spellings follow Webster's An American Dictionary of the English Language ("ADEL", "Webster's Dictionary", 1828).