Curriculum in Early American Colleges

Richard Leong (rel2138)History BC 3570/Spring 2014

Early HarvardFounded in 1636, “to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches, when our present ministers shall lie in the dust.” New England's First Fruits

Instruction began in August 1638.

1638-39: Poor teaching methods/housekeeping prompted students to abandon the college.

1640: Henry Dunster appointed President.

Henry Dunster’s Harvard (1640-1654)

4 Year Program --> 3 Year Program

Monday/Tuesday

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1st Year Logic

Greek Hebrew Rhetoric

History & Nature of

Plants

2nd YearEthics & Politics Divinity

Catechetical (Training for

Christian Baptism/Con

firmation)3rd YearArithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy

Henry Dunster’s Harvard (1640-1654)All students studied and memorized passages from Scripture in the weekday mornings and recited them to the President on Saturdays.

After freshmen year, medieval-style disputations (formal debates) were required twice/week for all students.

Three years of individual study required for the M.A., students often guided by a minister.

Harvard influenced Yale’s first curriculum, as many of its early founders Harvard graduates.

Yale Compared to Harvard, there was more emphasis on science and less on languages.

Rector Thomas Clap (1745)

1st Year Languages

2nd Year

Languages (Optional)

Rhetoric, Geometry, Geography

3rd YearNatural Philosophy,

Astronomy, Mathematics

4th Year Metaphysics and Ethics

College of New JerseyModeled after Yale, with influence from English dissenting academics

Student Joseph Shippen (1751)

1st YearGreek, Hebrew

Rhetoric, LogicClassical Greek

Texts

Science (limited amount)

2nd Year Science/Natural Philosophy

3rd Year Moral Philosophy

4th Year Review

College of New JerseyBy 1722, classical languages received less emphasis, with a greater focus on science and moral philosophy.

Student John Witherspoon (1722):

1st Year: Latin, Greek, Rhetoric

2nd Year: Continued languages, Geography, Philosophy, Mathematical Knowledge

3rd Year: Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Moral Philosophy

President lectured on Chronology and History to Juniors, and Composition and Criticism to Seniors

Offered French as an elective

College of PhiladelphiaBegan 1751

First college to depart from medieval tradition and specifically religious objectives.

William Smith: A General Idea of the College of Mirania (1752)

Outlined for a college in NY, but impressed Benjamin Franklin enough to have him appointed to teach logic, rhetoric, ethic, and natural philosophy (1754)

Appointed provost in 1755.

More emphasis on giving students a choice of subjects.

Syllogistic disputations and declamations still regular.

College of PhiladelphiaThree-Year Program, split into roughly 1/3 Classics; 1/3 Mathematics and Science; 1/3 Logics, Ethics, Metaphysics, Oratory

1st YearLatin and Greek

Composition

Arithmetic, Algebra,

Geometry, Logarithms

Classical and Rhetorical Studies

2nd Year Mathematics Logic and Ethics

Natural Philosophy,

Classical Readings,

Orations on Classical Models

3rd Year

Natural and Civil Law, Civil History,

Laws and Government

Trade and Commerce

Natural Philosophy

King’s CollegeEstablished the same year that William Smith’s plan was established in Philadelphia

1755:

1st YearLatin and Greek

Classics

Rhetorics, Geography, Chronology

2nd & 3rd YearClassics, Criticism

Mathematics

Experimental Philosophy:

Agriculture and Merchandise

Fourth Year

Metaphysics, Moral

Philosophy, Criticism

LogicPrinciples of

Law and History

Late 18th Century TrendsTutorial System: A tutor taught all subjects to a group of students throughout their college career --> Tutors and Professors assigned to subjects

Syllogistic Disputation (formal debates with rules from medieval universities) --> Forensic Debate (moderated debate in English that was more flexible and conducive to contemporary questions)

Inclusion of foreign languages

1787: Joseph Nancred first established and paid instructor of French at Harvard

President served as an instructor, often lecturing on ethics and moral philosophy to an entire class

Major TakeawaysAt first, the curriculum of American colleges closely resembled the curriculum of Cambridge

As new colleges were founded, they tended to model/respond to their predecessors. Many founders were graduates of those very colleges.

Even today, colleges still follow the lead of their most prestigious peers

College curriculums responded to the interests/needs of a changing society.

Religious affiliation was still important, but it decline slowly.

Sources"Alma Mater: The History of American Colleges & Universities." Alma Mater The History of American Colleges Universities. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.

Kraus, Joe W. "The Development of a Curriculum in the Early American Colleges." History of Education Quarterly 1.2 (1961): 64-76. Print.