HIGHER LEARNING IN AMERICA
HISTORY DEPARTMENT
BARNARD COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
AMERICAN HIGHER
LEARNING:
1636 to 1860
[with special attention to Columbia
University]
American Higher Learning To the Civil War
Timeline of Major Events
[Under Construction]
I. 12th to 16th Centuries
1140s -- Founding of the University of Bologna, Italy
1140s -- Founding of the University of Paris, France
1167 -- Founding of Oxford University, England
1217 -- Founding of Salamanca University, Spain
1249 -- Founding of University College, Oxford
1250 -- Establishment of four colleges at University of Paris
1263 -- Founding of Balliol College, Oxford
1264 -- Thomas Aquinas completed his Summa Theologica
1290 -- Founding of University of Lisbon, Portugal
1453 -- Invention of printing press by Johann Gutenberg; publication of Bible ensues
1492 -- Christopher Columbus encounters America sailing west to China;
1517 -- Martin Luther broke with Rome and launches Protestant Reformation
1535 -- Henry VIII breaks with Rome; founds Protestant Church of England
1582 -- University of Edinburgh founded; later center of Scottish
Enlightenment
II. American Collegiate Beginnings
1607 -- Jamestown founded in Virginia; first permanent English settlement in America
1620 -- English Separatists ("Pilgrims") settle in Plymouth [later, Massachusetts]
1630 -- English Puritans settle in Boston, establish Massachusetts Bay Colony
1636 -- Harvard College founded by Mass. General Court and Congregationalist churches, located in Cambridge;
1640 -- Bay Psalm Book published in Boston; first book printed in America
1643 -- New Englands First Fruits published in England, a fund- raising description of Harvard College
1650 -- Harvard charter from the Massachusetts General Court;
prescribed external governance by self-perpetuating
seven-member
Corporation, initially all local ministers
1693 -- College of William and Mary founded by Virginia House of
Burgesses and Anglican churches,
located in
Williamsburg; secured royal charter by no royal funding
1701 -- Yale College founded by Connecticut Presbyterian ministers
seeking local alternative to Harvard;
eventually
settled in New Haven in 1716
1722 -- Young Benjamin Franklin satirizes Harvard College in Boston News-Letter
1726-- Yale authorities accused of encouraging Anglicanism; lose support among some Calvinist alumni
1741 -- Jonathan Edwards gave Commencement Address at Yale in
midst of the Great Awakening;
Yale and Harvard
authorities opposed English revivalist George Whitefield
1746 -- The founding of the College of New Jersey by Presbyterian
"New Lights" as alternative to
anti-revivalist
"Old Lights" Yale; opened in Princeton in 1747
1754 -- King's College (later Columbia) founded by New York City
Anglicans, after conceding role
to Presbyterians.
Royal charter from George II but no money. Yale-trained Anglican minister
Samuel Johnson
(1696-1772) first president (to 1763).
1755 -- Chartering of College of Philadelphia [subsequently the
University of Pennsylvania] by civic leaders
seeking a
non-denominational college; earlier founding date of 1740 linked to Benjamin Franklin's
efforts
1763 -- 27-year-old Oxford-trained Anglican minister Myles
Cooper (1737-1785) becomes 2nd president
of King's
College; served until 1775 when he fled beore a revolutionary mob
1764 -- Founding of College of Rhode Island [later Brown] in Providence by Baptists
1766 -- Founding of Queens University [later Rutgers] by Dutch Reformers in New Brunswick, New Jersey
1767 - King's College organized a medical faculty; first degrees in 1769
1769 -- Founding of Dartmouth by New Hampshire Congregationalists
unhappy with Harvard;
led by Indian
missionary Eleazar Wheelock, settled in Hanover
1769 -- American Philosophical Society organized in Philadelphia;
Benjamin Franklin prime mover since 1743;
oldest American
learned society
1775 -- April -- King's College closed in face of opposition from
revolutionary citizenry; president,
most trustees and
faculty side with England and depart for Canada
III. Colleges in Revolutionary America
1776 -- Signers of Declaration of Independence included xx graduates
of the nine colonial colleges; then about
3000 college
graduates in country of 2,500,000
Hampden-Sidney College founded in Virginia
1778 -- Articles of Confederation; xx of xx signers were college graduates
1780 -- The American Academy of Arts and Sciences organized in Boston
to promote "knowledge of various kinds."
John Adams is a
prime mover.
Transylvania University founded in Tennessee
1781 -- Thomas Jefferson reflects on the need for education and
"diffusion of knowledge" in a republic
in his only
published book, Notes on the State of Virginia
1783 -- Founding of Dickinson College, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania
1784 -- King's College reopened in original building with a new
state charter as "Columbia College";
governed by
state-appointed Regents as the first of what was expected to be several colleges
within a state-wide
University
1785 -- Founding of University of Georgia by state legislature; the first chartered state university
1786 -- "Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom," sponsored
by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison,
adopted by
Virginia legislature; prototype for Ist Amendment
1787 -- May to September -- Federal Convention in Philadelphia drafts
The Constitution of the United States;
fifty-five
delegates included 25 college graduates; no mention made of a federal role in education
-- July -- William Samuel
Johnson (1727-1819), son of Samuel Johnson, lawyer and signer of Constitution,
elected 3rd
president of Columbia; its first lay president; served until 1800
-- December to early 1788 --
Columbians Alexander Hamilton (1772-75) and John Jay (1764) join
with James Madison
(Princeton '72) to write The Federalist Papers in support of Constitution
1789 -- Constitution ratified by eleven states authoring establishing
of a federal government;
Hamilton and
Jay crucial in securing New York's ratification
Georgetown
University founded by Jesuits in Georgetown, Maryland, later Washington, D.C.;
First Catholic
college in United States
1790 -- First Federal Census [US Population -- < 4,000,000]
1791 -- Founding of University of Vermont, at Burlington, by state legislature
1793 -- Founding of Hamilton College, in Clinton, New York; 2nd college founded in NY
Founding of Williams College, in western Massachusetts
1794 -- Founding of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine
Founding of University of Tennessee, at Knoxville
1795 -- President George Washington called for creation of a national university
Founding of Union College, in Schenectady, New York; 3rd NY college
University of North Carolina founded by state legislature at Chapel Hill
1796 -- President George Washington renewed call for a national university
1797 -- Nation's capitol relocated to Washington from Philadelphia
1800 -- 2nd Federal Census:
5,000,000 population; 22 colleges operating in the United States
-- Middlebury College founded in Vermont
1801 -- July -- Rev. Charles H. Wharton (1748-1833)
elected 4th president of Columbia;
resigned in
December; decided to keep his Episcopal parish in New Jersey rather
than come to NYC
-- The University of South Carolina founded by state legislature, located in Charleston (later Columbia)
-- December -- Rev. Benjamin Moore
(1748-1816), Episcopal bishop of NY, elected 5th Columbia
president; first
alumnus-president (KC 1768); served to 1811
1802 -- The United States Military Academy founded by Congress at West
Point, New York; first federally supported
institution
of higher education
1806 -- Student religious revival at Williams College leads to
founding of American Foreign Missionary movement;
later
important in recruiting college graduates for missionary service abroad
1811 -- Rev. William Harris (1765-1829) elected 6th
president of Columbia (to1829) ; graduate of
Harvard College
(1786); continued as rector of St. Mark's until 1816; shared reponsibilities
with Provost (and
Presbyterian) John Mason until 1816
1813-14 -- Thomas Jefferson and John Adams correspond on the merits
and limits of a "natural aristocracy
[of] talent and virtue" in a republic
1815 -- American Education Society founded to provide financial
support for ministerial candidates; by 1830s
Society was
supporting >1000 students at dozens of colleges (but not at Columbia)
1816 -- First Americans to Europe to pursue graduate studies,
especially drawn to German universities;
by 1850s several
hundred Americans doing so
1819 -- The Supreme Court, in Trustees of Dartmouth College v.
Woodward, confirmed the "private" character
of the College and its
exemption from legislative interference; Dartmouth represented by its alumnus Daniel
Webster
-- Colgate University founded by Baptists in
Hamilton, NY, with funding by NYC soapmaker,
William Colgate; 5th
NY college
1820 -- Third Federal Census
US population
approaching 10,000,000
Number of
colleges in the 30s
-- Indiana University founded by territorial legislature, in Bloomington
1821 -- Amherst College founded, in Amherst, Massachusetts
1822 -- Geneva College (later, Hobart) founded by Episcopalian laymen,
in Geneva, New York ;
6th NY
college; second with Episcopalian sponsorship; Hobart had been Episcopal
bishop of NY and
prominent Columbia trustee
1824 -- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute founded, located in Troy, New
York; first non-military
technical
institute in country
1825 -- Founding of first Greek-letter fraternity at Union College;
most colleges with several
by mid-1840s; Columbia's
first fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi, chartered in 1836
1826 -- Lafayette College founded by civic leaders in Easton, Pennsylvania
1828 -- Publication of Yale Faculty Report by Yale faculty;
written by President Jeremiah Day;
spirited defense
of classical, prescribed curriculum
1829 -- Illinois College founded
-- William A. Duer (1780-1858), NY
state judge, elected 7th president of Columbia; served until 1842;
first Columbia
president not a college graduate; second layman as president
1830 -- 4th Federal Census:
13,000,000 population
56 colleges
1831 -- Founding of Wesleyan University by Methodists, in Middletown, Connecticut
-- Founding of University of City of
New York (later NYU) by civic leaders dissatisfied with
Columbia's
classical curriculum and social exclusiveness ; 2nd college in NYC
1832 -- Wabash College founded by Presbyterian ministers in Crawfordsville, Indiana
1833 -- Founding of Oberlin College, in Ohio, by evangelical
Congregationalists/ Presbyterians;
Evangelist
Charles Grandison Finney one of its prominent early presidents (1851-66)
-- Haverford College founded in suburban Philadelphia; first Quaker-sponsored college in United States
1834 -- Student violence at Harvard threatens Commencement exercises;
Puts presidency of Josiah Quincy in
jeopardy; leads
to disciplinary and curricular reforms
1836 -- American Oriental Society founded in Boston, Massachusetts,
"for the cultivation of learning in the
Asian, African
and Polynesian languages"
-- Mary Lyon opened Mount Holyoke
Female Seminary in South Hadley, Massachusetts for training
young women to
become missionaries; became Mount Holyoke College in 1888
-- Georgia Female College chartered as first women's college in United States; opened in 1839 in Macon
-- Harvard University celebrates its bicentennial; initiates systematic fundraising efforts among its alumni
1837 -- Oberlin College enrolled four women students; inaugurates collegiate co-education in the United States
1838 -- Emory College founded in Atlanta, Georgia
1840 -- Fifth Federal Census
US population
exceeds 17,000,000
Number of
colleges approaches 100
1841 -- Fordham University founded by NY Catholic Archdiocese; first
Catholic college in NY;
3rd
college in NYC; staffed by Jesuits after 1844
-- Harvard began experimenting with
"elective courses" as alternative to fixed curriculum at urging of
its President Quincy
and science faculty
1842 -- Nathaniel F. Moore (1782-1872),CC 1802, nephew of 4th
president Benjamin Moore,
elected 8th
president of Columbia; served to 1849;
-- Notre Dame founded by French Catholic priests of the Order of the Holy Cross in South Bend, Indiana
-- President Francis Wayland of Brown
University published Thoughts on the Present Collegiate System;
called for revamping of
curriculum and governance of colleges
1843 -- Holy Cross College founded by Catholic Holy Cross Fathers, in Worcester, Massachusetts
1845 -- University of Michigan founded by state legislature, in Ann Arbor
-- United States Naval Academy
established at Annapolis, Maryland; second federally-supported
institution of
higher education
1846 -- Congress creates Smithsonian Institution, funded with 1829
bequest from Englishman James Smithson
for
"increase and diffusion of knowledge"
1847 -- American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS]
founded, located in Washington, D.C.;
marks early stage
in professionalization of American science
-- The Lawrence Scientific School
founded at Harvard, providing greater attention to advanced instruction
and faculty
research in science
-- The Sheffield Scientific School
founded at Yale, providing greater attention to advanced instruction
and support
of faculty research in science
-- The Free Academy, later The
City College of New York, founded as tuition-free public institution
for needy
students; 4th college in NYC
1848 -- University of Wisconsin founded by state legislature, at Madison
1849 -- Dr. Charles King (1779-1867), a merchant, elected 9th
president of Columbia; served until
retirement in
1864); 2nd CC president not a college graduate; 3rd layman to be
president
1850 -- Sixth Federal Census
US Population
exceeds 23,000,000
Number of US
colleges approaches 150
-- University of Rochester founded by Baptists in Rochester, New York; 9th college chartered in NY
1851 -- University of Minnesota founded by state legislature, located in Minneapolis-St. Paul
1853 -- Manhattan College founded by Catholic order of Christian Brothers, in Bronx, NY
1854 -- Columbia trustees reject proposed appointment of prominent
chemist and alumnus, Josiah Gibbs,
arguing that his
Utilitarianism rendered him unacceptable as a faculty member at "Episcopalian"
Columbia; rejection
focused much critical attention on CC trustees and governance procedures
1857 -- Columbia sold its original campus site on Park Place;
bought property on Madison and 49th St.
for its second campus
(there until 1897)
1858 -- Columbia introduced a post-graduate program in science,
literature and jurisprudence;
abandoned three
years later after little success in attracting students
-- Columbia Law School opened under
direction of its dean-proprietor Theodore W. Dwight (1822-1892);
School remained
downtown on Lafayette Place
1859 -- Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species,
offering a scientific alternative to Biblical accounts of
creation and
human evolution; favorably received by leading American academic scientists
-- College of Physicians and
Surgeons becomes loosely affiliated with Columbia; not
fully
integrated until 1890s
1860 -- Seventh Federal Census:
US population
approaches 32,000,000
Number of US
colleges exceeds 200
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