On this page, it is claimed that the usage of "towards" was dominant (I guess both in Britain and America) compared to "toward" until the 19th century when Americans moved toward toward. (Edit: an google books ngram count is cited for this.)

Is there any research explaining why this is the case? E.g., was it primarily caused by non-English immigrants, or did a large fraction of immigrants from England for some reason already use "toward"? Or was it something less organic and more planned like the effort to simplify spellings around this time period (e.g., colour --> color, but this case seems to be more than just a simplified spelling as the pronounciation is different), or just a general "f**k you England, we'll make our language better than yours" attitude?

On this page, it is claimed that the usage of "towards" was dominant (I guess both in Britain and America) compared to "toward" until the 19th century when Americans moved toward toward. (Edit: a Google Books Ngram count is cited for this.)

Is there any research explaining why this is the case? E.g., was it primarily caused by non-English immigrants, or did a large fraction of immigrants from England for some reason already use "toward"? Or was it something less organic and more planned like the effort to simplify spellings around this time period (e.g., colour --> color, but this case seems to be more than just a simplified spelling as the pronunciation is different), or just a general "f**k you England, we'll make our language better than yours" attitude?

On this page, it is claimed that the usage of "towards" was dominant (I guess both in Britain and America) compared to "toward" until the 19th century when Americans moved toward toward, however no reference is given.

Is there any research explaining why this is the case? E.g., was it primarily caused by non-English immigrants, or did a large fraction of immigrants from England for some reason already use "toward"? Or was it something less organic and more planned like the effort to simplify spellings around this time period (e.g., colour --> color, but this case seems to be more than just a simplified spelling as the pronounciation is different), or just a general "f**k you England, we'll make our language better than yours" attitude?

If not, is there at least a reference for this change in trend?

On this page, it is claimed that the usage of "towards" was dominant (I guess both in Britain and America) compared to "toward" until the 19th century when Americans moved toward toward. (Edit: an google books ngram count is cited for this.)

Is there any research explaining why this is the case? E.g., was it primarily caused by non-English immigrants, or did a large fraction of immigrants from England for some reason already use "toward"? Or was it something less organic and more planned like the effort to simplify spellings around this time period (e.g., colour --> color, but this case seems to be more than just a simplified spelling as the pronounciation is different), or just a general "f**k you England, we'll make our language better than yours" attitude?