Thursday, June 5, 2025

History of US Universities 6-5-25

Harvard University was founded in 1636. It was officially established by the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The university was named after its first benefactor, John Harvard, who donated his library and half his estate to the institution. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=when+was+harvard+founded+and+by+whom 

The first 10 universities founded in the US, in order of founding, are: Harvard University (1636), the College of William & Mary (1693), St. John's College (1696), Yale University (1701), University of Pennsylvania (1740, chartered 1755), Moravian University (1742), University of Delaware (1743), Princeton University (1746), Washington & Lee University (1749), and Columbia University (1754). 

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+were+the+first+10+universities+founded+in+the+US

Some of the US Founders went to these colleges.  John Adams graduated from the Harvard Latin School and Thomas Jefferson graduated from William and Mary.  Ben Franklin worked as a Printer’s Apprentice and George Washington was a Plantation Owner and served in the Virginia Militia. Neither of them attended college. Both were elected to serve in their Colonial Legislatures.

All Founders read books. The Plantation Owners studied science and all of the Founders studied the Enlightenment Philosophers who were recommending reforms to the Monarchy.

In the 1700s Education was largely self-directed. All families had Bibles and home-schooled reading. Most children worked from an early age and learned skills to apply to whatever work they performed. All useful knowledge was respected. Self-Reliance and Personal Integrity were required. The family was the foundation for intergenerational wealth. The knowledge gained by Successful Plantation Owners, Merchants, Skilled Tradesmen and others was highly valued. Solving common problems brought these groups together. Improving transportation of goods to markets and harbors was a primary concern. The common focus was on the Colonial Private Sector Economy.

In the 1800s, proven technologies were applied to agriculture and transportation.

The first railroad in the USA was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), chartered in 1827 and completed in 1830. It was the first intercity railroad and is considered the first steam-operated common carrier.

 https://www.google.com/search?q=first+railroad+in+usa

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, founded in 1802, is widely considered the first engineering school in the United States. While it began training technically skilled army officers in 1817, other institutions like Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Norwich University also claim to be among the first to offer engineering education. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+was+the+first+engineering+college+in+the+us

Medical Schools had been operating since 1765. The first Law School was opened in 1784. The first Dental School was opened in 1840.

American college curricula primarily focused on classical languages (Latin and Greek), mathematics, and natural sciences. Students were also expected to study philosophy, ethics, logic, and rhetoric. Courses often included history, literature, and theology, reflecting the societal and religious values of the time. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+college+courses

The Library Company of Philadelphia, founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin and others, is widely considered the first library in the United States. It was a subscription-based lending library, meaning members paid an annual fee to access the books. The first fully public, tax-supported library was established in Peterborough, New Hampshire in 1833. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=first+library+in+us

Home schooling continued throughout the 1800s in the US.

The Wiscasset Female Charitable Society, founded in Wiscasset, Maine, on November 18, 1805, is considered the first women's charitable organization in the US. The organization was formed by 30 women who pledged $76 (approximately $1,200 today) to assist other women in the community. According to the Grateful American® Foundation, the society's first act was loaning a dress to a woman who had nothing to wear to church. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=when+did+wealthy+wives+form+the+first+charitable+organization+in+the+us

Karl Marx published his Communist Manifesto in 1848.

The first course explicitly identified as "Sociology" in the United States was taught at Yale University in 1875 by William Graham Sumner. While other institutions may have offered related courses under different names earlier, this is widely recognized as the first time the term "Sociology" was used to describe a formal course of study. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=when+was+the+first+sociology+course+offered+in+the+us

The North Bennet Street School (NBSS) in Boston, founded in 1881, is widely considered the first trade school in the United States. Before NBSS, institutions like the Gardiner Lyceum (1823) focused on agricultural education, but NBSS was specifically designed to train individuals in practical trades. North Bennet Street School still operates today, offering a range of programs in fields like carpentry, furniture making, and more.

https://www.google.com/search?q=first+trade+school+in+us

In the 1850s, US college curricula primarily focused on a liberal arts education, emphasizing Greek, Latin, history, and mathematics. Colleges were often small with a limited range of courses, and students were drilled in these subjects through lectures, recitations, and public disputations. While Latin and Greek were foundational, other subjects like logic, ethics, rhetoric, and even some elements of mathematics and science were also included. The curriculum also included courses in philosophy, astronomy, and geometry, particularly in the latter years of study. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=college+curriculum+in+1850+in+us

The Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1881, making it the first university-based business school in the United States, and therefore, the first school of economics as well. Joseph Wharton, an American industrialist, established the school with an initial pledge of $100,000. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=when+was+the+first+school+of+economics+in+the+us

In 1900, American college curricula emphasized liberal arts, with a strong focus on classical languages (Greek and Latin), rhetoric, ethics, and history. Mathematics, logic, and some natural sciences were also included, but often in a more limited capacity. The emphasis was on a broad, foundational education rather than specialized vocational training. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=college+curriculum+in+1900+in+us

Comments

Todays Universities continue to follow the established pattern of the original “Liberal Arts” emphasis of the 1800s.

Medical Schools were added in the 1900s along with Law Schools, Dental Schools, Engineering Schools and Business Schools to serve occupational education needs.

Todays Universities are focused on inventing all forms of Marxism and Indoctrination as their main focus. The Faculties in the Professional Schools do not support their own University Administrations and now need to weigh in. They should threaten to leave the Universities and go on their own.

US Law Schools need serious reforms aimed at restoring the US Constitution’s Original Intent. Law Students need to understand Free Market Economics and US History.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

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