How do U declare independence?

CB27 · 1412518. Mon Jun 06, 2022 1:54 pm

By getting rid of U of course :)

The US declaration of independence came out only 20 years after Johnson published his English dictionary. Johnson was a purist who didn't believe there was a need for spelling reform, he therefore used the traditional spelling of colour, honour, etc.

When Jefferson first drafted the Declaration of Independence, the last word in the conclusion was "Honour", but by the time the final version was created, this was changed to "Honor".

Some people may claim that the original version was an error as Honor had sometimes been used instead of Honour for hundreds of years, but official English publications began to use Honour more often, which is why it was seen as the correct spelling by the time Johnson published his dictionary, and was likely originally considered as the correct spelling for an official document.

Just a few years after the US Declaration of Independence, you have a second, softer, declaration of independence, with the publication of Noah Webster's dictionary. Webster believed that spelling could be reformed and simplified, and as such removed the U from several words, including Honour, and his spelling has remained the basis for future US spelling ever since.

POLARIS183 · 1412572. Tue Jun 07, 2022 9:26 am

Or, on the other hand, incredibly peacefully!
The Autonomous Region of Bougainville is predicted to secede from Papua New Guinea in 2027, with 98.31% of Bougainvilleans (?) choosing to become an independent country, and PNG has obliged.

(then again, the path to independence was marred by a civil war between 1988-98...)