Pre-World War American English Orthography

[quendidil]

I've been reading a few pre-WW (both) American English texts lately, and I seem to have found spellings of some words that would now be deemed chiefly British.
E.g.
learnt
spelt
honour
analyse

Of course, I know the -ize for Latin roots was common across the Atlantic until recently, but "learnt" and "honour" have been used only in the Commonwealth since America's independence if I'm not mistaken. Can anyone explain the presence of these forms?

[Bert]

I've been reading a few pre-WW (both) American English texts lately, and I seem to have found spellings of some words that would now be deemed chiefly British.
E.g.
learnt
spelt
honour
analyse

Of course, I know the -ize for Latin roots was common across the Atlantic until recently, but "learnt" and "honour" have been used only in the Commonwealth since America's independence if I'm not mistaken. Can anyone explain the presence of these forms?

I don't think that right after independence American spelling changed. The British spelling and the American spelling each must have developed and grew apart.

[Lucus Eques]

I've been reading a few pre-WW (both) American English texts lately, and I seem to have found spellings of some words that would now be deemed chiefly British.
E.g.
learnt
spelt
honour
analyse

Of course, I know the -ize for Latin roots was common across the Atlantic until recently, but "learnt" and "honour" have been used only in the Commonwealth since America's independence if I'm not mistaken. Can anyone explain the presence of these forms?

I'd lean towards an imitation of British spellings (and pronunciation in the case of "spelt") as the chief cause — most "American" spellings were established since Noah Webster ~1800. "Analyse," of course, is not an "-ize" verb, but merely the correct spelling ("analyze" is a long used mispelling).

[Voxforascausa]

I've been reading a few pre-WW (both) American English texts lately, and I seem to have found spellings of some words that would now be deemed chiefly British.
E.g.
learnt
spelt
honour
analyse

Of course, I know the -ize for Latin roots was common across the Atlantic until recently, but "learnt" and "honour" have been used only in the Commonwealth since America's independence if I'm not mistaken. Can anyone explain the presence of these forms?

I don't think that right after independence American spelling changed. The British spelling and the American spelling each must have developed and grew apart.

If you look at scans of the constitution, you will see that they do use some American English spellings (they also seem to like to use Long S). I have not seen a clear copy of the Declaration, however. The spellings might have started to diverge several decades before during colonial times.

[Lucus Eques]

Heh, I also like to use long S, as you call it.