Mistaken

In my head I have the extremely loose timeline:

Some centuries ago, the English colonized America; a few centuries later those colonists declared independence and became the United States of America.

From that timeline, I thought:

In an effort to establish their own identity, Americans invented new spellings, e.g. “colour” became “color” and “centre” became “center.”

as well I thought:

Further in that effort, Americans reformed their accents, most noticeably going hard on the /r/s after vowels, “hard” not “hahd.”

Corrected spelling

The thought on spelling turns out not quite right (finally, a truth value for me, not quite an expert!). American spellings, as they differ from their British counterparts, follow Noah Webster's dictionaries.

Webster believed American values superior to European values:

America … sees the kingdoms of Europe, [where] the human mind like the body is fettered ‘and bound fast by the chords of policy and superstition’: She laughs at their folly and shuns their errors

In 1789, with hope for the new nation, he declared:

Now is the time, and this the country, in which we may expect changes favorable to language. … Let us then seize the present moment, and establish a national language, as well as a national government.

Among these “changes favorable to language,” seeking an intellectual foundation for American nationalism, Webster advocated simpler spelling closer to pronunciation: “color,” “center,” and “cloke” (not all winners, apparently). Webster did not, however, invent these spellings; he chose them from the inconsistent spellings originating long before his time.

Corrected accent

On the other hand, the thought on accent turns out backward. Formally, we call pronouncing the /r/ after vowels “rhotic.” Around the turn of the 19th century (after the American Revolution), non-rhotic English took off in England as a signifier of class. This accent became standardized as Received Pronunciation (RP) and spread across England as pronunciation tutors taught others to speak with class.

Still simplified

I find it intriguing that spelling could reveal itself so political. I also find myself surprised the accent I and many others associate with class comes from such recent artificial origins.

For brevity, this post omits discussion on the many diverse and evolving non-standard American and British accents. For example, some regional New England accents, by no coincidence, bear resemblance to RP. I could go on, though I'll save it for another post.