h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I found this article misleading in that it gives the reader
the impression that in every instance, the British spelling
is the older.

The article starts with Noah Webster and talks about how he
changed some spellings. While what is said here is true,
it induces the reader to think that there are spelling
differences because Amerians changed them. This isn't
entirely true.

I haven't checked every details that follows, so I might
be wrong in particulars. But, the author of this article
should at least do more research before writing it. For example,
Fowler says that the "-ize" form is more traditional than "-ise"
and it was the British who changed it to "-ise" because it was
more fashionable because it was French! Also, if I remember
correctly, the "-re" (as in "centre") was adopted by the British
for the same reason; Americans have just preserved the older
spelling ("-er"). It is true that these words came from French,
which uses the "-re" form. But, I heard that before Britons
adopted the French spelling, the "-er" form had already been
established as standard. (Again, I haven't checked this.)

We have to remember that before the 20th century, the UK was
the more "advanced" country. Therefore, new things tended to
happen first in the UK. For instance, the r-dropping pronunciation
("car" pronounced cah) spread from southeastern England, but most
settlers to the north America came from regions of England
which hadn't yet adopted the new pronunciation. That's why most
Amerians "still" pronounce the "r".