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GENERAL LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN.
PRESENT ED BY
... 189............

TO PICS
IN THE
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY
OF THE
UNITED STATES,
“The subject which is called the science of education, though still
very limited, and made up for the most part of disputed propositions, is of
the same character as any other branch of the philosophic or moral sci-
ences, and if pursued, even in its present form, would give the same kind
of discipline. The study of educational theories is a branch of the history
of philosophy, while the history of educational institutions and processes
and methods is also a branch, and a very important one, of institutional
history. Education can lay claims to the same sort of treatment accorded
to these subjects on its own intrinsic merits as a branch of liberal train-
ing. It should be included, therefore, as a branch of study in every
college which has adopted the elective system of studies leading to a
liberal degree.”—Professor E. J. James.

a Z22, 2’-l/ ãº. tº-
** a v
B: A* HIN's DALEs,
Professor of the Science and the Art of Education in the University
of Michigan.
THE INLAND PRESS, ANN ARBOR, Michigan.
^T H EVR
Comparative Study of Educational Systems.
cotſ ResE NZT
In the Science and the Art of Teaching.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN,
Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The Subject–Matter of the Course is Educational Institu-
tions. The following outline will indicate its general character:
I. RELATIONS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TO EDUCATION
IN THE UNITED STATES.
Early Attempts to Found a National University.—The Com-
mon School, University, and Agricultural College Land Grants.
—The Deposit Fund of 1837.-The Bureau of Education.—The
Scientific Surveys and Societies Patronized by Congress. The
Military and Naval Academies. -
II. THE STATE SCHOOL SystEMs.
The Sense in which there is an American School System.—
Common Features of the State Systems.--Dissimilarities Grow-
ing out of Dissimilarities of Local Institutions.—The Massa-
chusetts, New York, Virginia, Alabama, Michigan, and Cali-
fornia Systems Examined.
Under this general division the influence of England,
France, and Germany upon the schools of the United States will
be considered. - .
III. THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS OF FRANCE, GERMANY, AND
- ENGLAND.
VIEWS OF THE PRESIDENTS
IN REI, ATION TO
A NATIONAL UNIVERSITY,
I.
The first voice pleading for a National University is heard
amid the tumult of the patriot soldiery that flocked to the
beleaguer of Boston after Texington and Concord. Samuel
Blodget tells the story in a passage of his “ Economica,” “ the
great interest of which does not permit either mutilation or
abridgement.
“As the most minute circumstances are sometimes instruct-
ing for their relation to great events, we relate the first we ever
heard of a national university: it was in the camp at Cambridge,
in October, 1775, when Major William Blodget went to the
quarters of General Washington to complain of the ruin-
ous state of the colleges from the conduct of the militia
quartered therein. The writer of this being in company with
his friend and relation, and hearing General Greene join in
lamenting the then ruinous state of the eldest seminary of Mas-
sachusetts, observed, merely to console the company of friends,
that to make amends for these injuries, after our war, he hoped
we should erect a noble national university, at which the youth
of all the world might be proud to receive instructions. What
was thus pleasantly said, Washington immediately replied to,
with that inimitably expressive and truly interesting look for
which he was sometimes so remarkable: ‘Young man, you are a
prophet, inspired to speak what I am confident will one day be
realized.’ He then detailed to the company his impressions,
* Blodget’s “Economica,” the alternative title of which is, “A Statesman’s
Manual for the United States Of America,” said to be the first work On political
economy published in America, was published in Washington in 1806. The author
Copyrighted it “for the benefit, in trust, for the free education fund of the univer-
sity founded by George Washington in his last years.” Two mottoes appear on the
title page: “The legislature Ought to make the people happy '' (Aristotle on Gov-
ernment), and “Felia, qui potwit rerwm cogmoscere causas.” I am indebted to Dr. G.
BrOwn GOOde, Of the National Museum, for the quotations made above, and also for
my information of Blodget. See Dr. Goode’s instructive Monograph, “The Origin
Of the National Scientific and Educational Institutions of the United States,” pub-
lished by the American Historical Association, 15, 16.
that all North America would one day become united; he said
that a Colonel Byrd, of Virginia, was the first man who had
pointed out the best central seat for the capital city, near to the
present spot, or about the falls of the Potomac. General Wash-
ington further said that a Mr. Evans had expressed the same
Opinion with many other gentlemen, who, from a cursory view
of a chart of North America, received this natural and truly
correct impression. The look of General Washington, the
energy of his mind, his noble and irresistible eloquence, all con-
spired so far to impress the writer with these subjects, that if
ever he should unfortunately become insane it will be from his
anxiety for the federal city and national university.” -
It is well known that Washington's interest in the site on
which the city which bears his name stands, dates from the
time when he was encamped there with the Virginia troops
in 1755. The above extract shows very plainly that in his mind
a firm Union of the States, a National Capital, and a National
University were intimately associated. These were favorite
ideas with which he never parted. It is also interesting to note
that this first suggestion of a national university is immedi-
ately prompted by the desecration and havoc that war was
making in the college buildings at Cambridge. The idea next
comes to the surface in a place far better adapted to its consid-
eration than Washington’s camp.
II.
Several attempts were made in the Federal Convention of
1787 to give Congress educational powers. The “Plan of a
Federal Constitution ” submitted by Mr. Charles Pinckney, of
South Carolina, May 29,” included the following among other
legislative powers: “To establish and provide for a national
university at the seat of government of the United States.”
August 18 these propositions were referred to the Committee of
Detail, on motion of Mr. Pinckney: “To establish seminaries
of learning for the promotion of literature, and the arts and
* Elliot’s Debates, I. 147. f
It is well known to students of the history of the Federal Convention that the
so-called “Pinckney Plan” is a document of little authority. See “The Madison
Papers,” III, Appendix 2, and “The Writings of James Madison,” IV, 172, 173; 181, 182,
338, 339; 378,379. Still, it is proper to cite the passage in relation to the university,
since Mr. Pinckney alone certainly brought the subject forward August 18, and
again in connection with Mr. Madison September 14. Dr. Goode does not mention
Pinckney, but gives the whole Credit to Madison.
–5–
sciences”; To establish public institutions, rewards, and immu-
nities for the promotion of agriculture, commerce, trades, and
manufactures.* Neither one of these propositions, nor any
reference to them, is contained in any report made by the com-
mittee to the Convention, that is found in the Journal. Under
date of September 14, we find the following in Mr. Madison's
report of the debates:
“Mr. Madison and Mr. Pinckney then moved to insert in the
list of powers vested in Congress a power
“‘To establish a university in which no preferences or dis-
tinctions should be allowed on account of religion.’
“Mr. Wilson supported the motion. - .
“Mr. Gouverneur Morris: ‘It is not necessary. The exclu-
sive power at the seat of government will reach the object.’
“On the question:
“Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
aye—4; New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware,
Maryland, Georgia, no—6; Connecticut, divided; Dr. Johnson,
2 y --
aye; Mr. Sherman, no.”i
Morris's argument is the only one reported on either side;
but it would be strange indeed, considering the state of Opinion
in the Convention concerning the relative spheres of the Federal
and State governments, if the stronger objection, although it
may not have been expressed, was not that the proposition was
an invasion of the proper jurisdiction of the State authority.j
But however this may be, the practical result of the Conven-
tion’s action on the whole subject, or rather inaction, was, that
education was left where it always had been, in the hands of the
States and of the people. Still two of its foremost members,
and One of them its president, in after years strove to persuade
Congress to establish a national university. The history of
their efforts in that direction not only shows what were their
views of the constitutional question, but is also extremely
interesting in itself. It is, moreover, highly probable, that
* EIIiot’s Debates, V., 440.
t Elliot's Debate, V. 544. -
# Dr. Henry Barnard, connmenting on this history, says Pinckney’s motion was
lost, as reported by Madison, expressly on the ground that the power to establish
Such a university was included in the grant of exclusive legislation over the district
in Which the government should be located.— Report of the Commissioner of
Education, 1868, 41. Dr. Barnard's statement is stronger than the record will
justify. The fact that Mr. Madison reports only this argument is no proof that
Such Was the accepted view of the subject. Action in the Federal Convention was
Often influenced by arguments that were not stated at all. Nor is Mr. Madison’s
report Of the discussions by any means a full one. -
d
— 6 —
Washington was really associated with Pinckney and Madison
in their efforts in the Convention.
III.
In his “Speech delivered to both Houses of Congress”,
January 8, 1790,-which we should now call his first annual
message,_President Washington recommended certain interest-
ing objects to their attention. After mentioning “uniformity
in the currency, weights, and measures”; “the advancement of
agriculture, commerce, and manufactures”; and the “expedi-
ency of giving effectual encouragement, as well to the introduc-
tion of new and useful inventions from abroad as to the exer-
tions of skill and genius in producing them at home”; and of
“facilitating the intercourse between the distant parts of our
country by a due attention to the post office and post roads,”—all
subjects in which he took a deep interest, he thus treats another
subject that lay still nearer his heart:
“Nor am I less pursuaded, that you will agree with me in
Opinion, that there is nothing which can better deserve your
patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowl-
edge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.
In One, in which the measures of government receive their
impressions so immediately from the sense of the community,
as in ours, it is proportionably essential. To the security of a
free constitution it contributes in various ways; by convincing
those who are intrusted with the public administration, that
every valuable end of government is best answered by the
enlightened confidence of the people; and by teaching the peo-
ple themselves to know, and to value their own rights; to dis-
cern and provide against invasions of them; to distinguish
between oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful author-
ity, between burthens proceeding from a disregard to their con-
venience and those resulting from the inevitable exigencies of
society; to discriminate the spirit of liberty from that of licen-
tiousness, cherishing the first and avoiding the last, and uniting
a speedy but temperate vigilance against encroachments, with
an inviolable respect to the laws. *
“Whether this desirable object will be the best promoted
by affording aids to seminaries of learning already established,
by the institution of a national university, or by any other
expedients, will be well worthy of a place in the deliberations
of the legislature.”
The government of the United States is one of delegated
powers. Not only is the Constitution framed on this theory,
— 7 —
but Amendment IX expressly declares: “The powers not
delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor pro-
hibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respect-
ively, or to the people.” Among the powers delegated, the
establishment of schools and the provision of education are not
found. The words do not occur in the document. Accordingly,
whatever power Congress has in the premises, if any, must be
sought in the implications of the Constitution as interpreted by
history. Washington was not a strict-construction statesman.
His subsequent action shows that his mind never encountered
any constitutional difficulties on the university question. He
no doubt fully concurred in the view held by Mr. Morris; more-
over, his practical mind found abundant authority for his
favorite educational ideas in the general-welfare clause.
Beyond a general expression of concurrence in his views
respecting the promotion of education and literature made by
the House of Representatives in reply to the President’s speech,
it does not appear that Congress paid the slightest attention to
the subject. Nor do we again hear of it for several years. This
fact, apparently surprising in view of Washington's unflag-
ging interest, is explained by a transaction of great national
importance.
IV
The permanent seat of the National Government was estab-
lished on the Potomac by an act of Congress approved June
28, 1790, and the names Columbia and Washington were given,
by the Commissioners created by the act, to the Federal Dis-
trict and the JFederal City September 7, 1791. The establish-
ment of the capital strengthened Washington’s conviction as to
the proper seat of the national university. But the Federal
District was a forest; ten years was the time alloted to prepare
the Federal City for the reception of the government; and those
who have read the contemporary accounts of the condition of
Washington in the year 1800 will not be surprised that even
Washington’s ardor was for the time restrained. Blodgett
reports a conversation with the President, in which he “stated
his opinion that till there were four or five thousand inhabitants
in the City of Washington, and until Congress were comfort-
— 8 —
able accommodated, it might be premature to commence a
Seminary. . . . . He did not wish to see the work commence
until the city was prepared for it.” * -
V.
A longer, though less important, series of transactions must
now be related. Washington was always deeply interested in
economical and industrial subjects. His views in regard to
public improvements, and particularly in regard to uniting the
sea-board with what were then called “the western waters,” by
means of transportation lines, are well known. In 1785 the
Legislature of Virginia voted him, as a testimonial for his
public services, 50 shares of the stock in the Potomac Company
and 100 shares in the James River Company, in both of which
enterprises he had taken great interest. In obedience to the
resolution that he had made in 1775, not to accept compensa-
tion or reward for public service, he declined to accept the gift;
or, rather, he retained it with a view of devoting it to some
object of a public nature which should meet the enlightened
and patriotic views of the body that had voted the bounty. How
much embarrased he was by the gift, is shown by his numerous
letters in relation to the subject.* Nor was he able readily to
make up his mind in regard to its destination. He wrote Mr.
Jefferson as follows, September 26, 1785:
“I never for a moment entertained an idea of accepting it.
The difficulty, with which my mind labored, was how to refuse
without giving offence. Ultimately I have it in contemplation
to apply the profits arising from the tolls to some public use.
In this, if I knew how, I would meet the wishes of the Assem-
bly; but, if I am not able to come at these, my own inclination
leads me to apply them to the establishment of two charity
schools, one on each river, for the education and support of
poor children, especially the descendants of those, who have
fallen in defense of their country.” f
How early Washington settled this question in his own
mind, we cannot tell. He wrote to Edmund Randolph, Decem-
ber 15, 1794, enclosing an extract from his will, which Dr.
Sparks; supposes to have been the same in substance as the
* See Sparks: The Writings of George Washington, TX, 83, 108, 116, 133, 142; XI,
3, 19, 22, 172.
+ Sparks, IX, 133.
: XI, 3.
— 9 —
provisions relating to the same subject found in the will that
Washington executed July 9, 1799, quoted hereafter. He asks
Randolph in conjunction with Mr. Madison to mature a plan
for disposing of the stock. But whether Dr. Sparks's infer-
ence on this point is correct or not, it is certain that, about this
time, the shares in the Improvement Companies, or rather
the shares in one of them, in Washington’s mind, became a
part of the endowment of a national university. January 28,
1795, he addressed this letter to the Commissioners of the Fed-
eral District:
“A plan for the establishment of a university in the Fed-
eral City has frequently been the subject of conversation; but,
in what manner it is proposed to commence this important
institution, on how extensive a scale, the means by which it is
to be effected, how it is to be supported, or what progress is
made in it, are matters altogether unknown to me. It has
always been a source of serious reflection, and sincere regret
with me, that the youth of the United States should be sent to
foreign countries for the purpose of education. Although there
are doubtless many, under these circumstances, who escape the
danger of contracting principles unfavorable to republican gov-
ernment, yet we ought to deprecate the hazard attending ardent
and susceptible minds, from being too strongly and too early
prepossessed in favor of other political systems, before they are
capable of appreciating their own.
“For this reason I have greatly wished to see a plan
adopted, by which the arts, sciences, and belles-lettres could be
taught in their fullest extent, thereby embracing all the advan-
tages of European tuition, with the means of acquiring the
liberal knowledge, which is necessary to qualify our citizens for
the exigencies of public as well a private life; and (which with
me is a consideration of great magnitude) by assembling the
youth from the different parts of this rising republic, contribut-
ing from their intercourse and interchange of information to
the removal of prejudices, which might perhaps sometimes arise
from local circumstances.
“The Federal City, from its centrality and the advantages
which in other respects it must have over any other place in the
United States, ought to be preferred, as a proper site for such a
university. And if a plan can be adopted upon a scale as exten-
sive as I have described, and the execution of it should com-
mence under favorable auspices in a reasonable time, with a fair
prospect of success, I will grant in perpetuity 50 shares in the
navigation of the Potomac River towards the endowment of it.
“What annuity will arise from these 50 shares, when the
navigation is in full operation, can at this time be only con-
— 10 —
jectured; and those, who are acquainted with it, can form as .
good a judgment as myself.
“As the design of this university has assumed no form with
which I am acquainted, and as I am equally ignorant who
the persons are, who have taken or are disposed to take the
maturing of the plan upon themselves, I have been at a loss to
whom I should make this communication of my intentions. If
the Commissioners of the Federal City have any particular
agency in bringing the matter forward, then the information,
which I now give to them, is in its proper course. If, on the
other hand, they have no more to do in it than others, who may
be desirous of seeing so important a measure carried into effect,
they will be so good as to excuse my using them as the medium
for disclosing these, my intentions; because it appears neces-
sary, that the funds for the establishment and support of the
institution should be known to the promoters of it; and I see
no mode more eligible for announcing my purpose. For these
reasons, I give you the trouble of this address, and the assur-
ance of being,” ” etc.
The next step soon followed. March 16 Washington wrote
to Governor Brooke, of Virginia, in regard to the disposition to
be made of the shares.
“It is with indescribable regret, that I have seen the youth
of the United States migrating to foreign countries, in order to
acquire the higher branches of erudition, and to obtain a knowl-
edge of the sciences. Although it would be injustice to many
to pronounce the certainty of their imbibing maxims not con-
genial with republicanism, it must nevertheless be admitted, that
a serious danger is encountered by sending abroad among other
political systems those, who have not well learned the value of
their own.
“The time is therefore come, when a plan of universal
education ought to be adopted in the United States. Not only
do the exigences of public and private life demand it, but, if it
should ever be apprehended, that prejudice would be enter-
tained in one part of the Union against the other, an efficacious
remedy will be, to assemble the youth of every part under such
circumstances as will, by freedom of intercourse and collision
of sentiment, give to their minds the direction of truth, philan-
thropy, and mutual conciliation.
“It has been represented, that a university corresponding
with these ideas is contemplated to be built in the Federal City,
and that it will receive considerable endowments. This posi-
tion is so eligible from its centrality, so convenient to Virginia,
by whose legislature the shares were granted and in which part
of the Federal District stands, and combines so many other con-
* Sparks, XI, 14.
— 11 —
veniences, that I have determined to vest the Potomac shares
in that university. -
“Presuming it to be more agreeable to the General Assem-
bly of Virginia, that the shares in the James River Company
should be reserved for a similar object in some part of that
State, I intend to allot them for a seminary to be erected at
such place as they shall deem most proper. I am disposed to
believe, that a seminary of learning upon an enlarged plan, but
yet not coming up to the full idea of a university, is an institu-
tion to be preferred for the position which is to be chosen. The
students, who wish to pursue the whole range of science, may
pass with advantage from the seminary to the university, and
the former by a due relation may be rendered co-operative with
the latter.
“I cannot however dissemble my opinion, that if all the
shares were conferred on a university, it would become far more
important, than when they are divided; and I have been con-
strained from concentring them in the same place, merely by
my anxiety to reconcile a particular attention to Virginia with
a great good, in which she will abundantly share in common
with the rest of the United States.
“I must beg the favor of your Excellency to lay this letter
before that honorable body, at their next session, in order that
I may appropriate the James River shares to the place which
they may prefer.””
The Virginia Legislature, responding to the President's
views, December 1, 1795, declared it highly disadvantageous
for American youth to go to foreign countries, to complete
their education. It not only ratified the use to which he pro-
posed to devote the stock, but also resolved that “the plan
contemplated of erecting a university in the Federal City where
the youth of the several States may be assembled and their
course of education finished, deserves the countenance and sup-
port of each State.” These are the two principal resolutions
in full:
“Resolved, therefore, that the appropriation by the said
George Washington of the aforesaid shares in the Potomac
Company to the university intended to be erected in the Federal
City, is made in a manner most worthy of public regard, and of
the approbation of this Commonwealth. >
“Resolved, also, that he be requested to appropriate the
aforesaid shares in the James River Company to a seminary at
such place in the upper country, as he may deem most conven-
f
ient to a majority of the inhabitants thereof.” f
* Sparks, XI, 23. *3
* Sparks, XI, 25, note.
These resolutions settled the question. September 15, 1796,
Washington writes to Governor Brooke that, after careful
inquiries to ascertain the place in the upper country most con-
venient to a majority of its inhabitants, he has destined the
James River shares to the use of Liberty Hall Academy in
Rockbridge County.” We accordingly find this item in his will:
“The 100 shares which I hold in the James River Company
I have given, and now confirm in perpetuity, to and for the use
and benefit of Liberty Hall Academy, in the County of Rock-
bridge, in the Commonwealth of Virginia.” +
VI.
Before the disposition of the shares in the Improvement
Companies was finally closed, Washington was called upon to
consider the boldest scheme recorded in our educational history.
The faculty of the College of Geneva, Switzerland, were ill at
ease under the political conditions then existing in that country
growing out of the French Revolution; and one or more of its
members originated the brilliant proposal of migrating in a
body to the United States, provided suitable encouragement
were offered. In a word, it was a proposition to transplant to
America one of the most famous of European seats of learning.
In view of the facts already stated, it was natural that the
scheme should be laid before Washington. It reached him by
two different channels. -
John Adams, while on foreign duty, had become acquainted
with M. D’Ivernois, one of the professors of the college, and
was very appropriately made a medium for transmitting the
Genevan idea. Adams submitted the papers to Washington,
and Washington replied under date of November 24, 1794,
neither accepting nor declining the proposition.f
Thomas Jefferson, while minister at Paris, had also made
M. D'Ivernois's acquaintance. He was known to be deeply
* Sparks, XI, 172.
+ Augusta, Academy was founded by the Hanover Presbytery, at Mount Pleas-
ant, about the year 1772. After a few years, it was located at Lexington and its
name changed to Liberty Hall Academy. Later its name was changed to Washing-
ton College, and still later to Washington and Lee University. The legislature has
watched carefully over. Washington’s donation, and it now yields 6 per Cent. On
$50,000. See a sketch of the institution in H. B. Adams’s “Thomas Jefferson and the
University of Virginia,” Chapter XXII, By Professors White and Harris.
# Sparks, XI, 1.
— 13 —
interested in science and in the College of Geneva, and was also
in close sympathy with French ideas and the French spirit.
Very naturally, the Genevan Professor sounded him also on the
subject. More definitely, he proposed the transplantation of
the college to Virginia and to Jefferson’s own county. Novem-
ber 22, 1794, Jefferson laid the scheme before Wilson Nicholas,
a member of the Virginia Assembly, requesting him to consult
privately such members of the Assembly as he thought proper,
and then to follow his own judgment in the premises. Jefferson
spoke of the expense and of the difficulty of communicating
instruction to American youth in French and Latin, but added
that, owing to his long absence from the State, he was not a
competent judge of the force of these objections.” In due time
Nicholas informed him that a canvas had been made, and that
the scheme was pronounced impracticable. Mr. Jefferson ac-
cordingly explained the situation to M. D’Ivernois in a letter
dated February 6, 1795.
- Apparently, this should have been the end of this extrava-
gant project. But Jefferson now bethought him of the fund.
that Washington held in trust for an educational purpose; and
February 23 he wrote the President an extremely interesting
letter in relation to the subject, sketching the Genevan faculty
one by one, and discussing the question of removal, especially
in its economical aspects. He thinks that if Washington will
devote the shares to the carrying Out of the scheme, it will give
it “in the outset such an eclat, and such solid advantages, as
would insure a very general concourse to it of the youths from
all our States, and probably from the other parts of America
which are free to adopt it.” + It is perfectly clear that Mr.
Jefferson did not think the scheme impracticable. Still, he did
not indorse the proposition in the terms that D’Ivernois had
made it. He wrote:
“The composition of the academy cannot be settled there.
It must be adapted to our circumstances, and can therefore only
be fixed between them and persons here acquainted with those
circumstances, and conferring for the purpose after their arrival
here. For a country so marked by agriculture as ours, I should
* The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, IV, 109.
+ Sparks, XI, 473.
think no professorship so important as one not mentioned by
them, a professor of agriculture, who, before students should
leave college, should carry them through a course of lec-
tures on the principles and practice of agriculture; and that
this proféssor should come from no country but England.
Indeed, I should mark Young as the man to be obtained.
These, however, are modifications to be left till their arrival
here.”
The reply that he received, dated March 15, left him in no
doubt as to Washington’s view of its practicability. After
recounting the advantages that would accrue to the national
university from locating it in the Federal City, and stating
that he has already decided to devote the James River shares
to some Virginia seminary, Washington continues thus:
“Hence you will perceive, that I have in a degree anticipated
your proposition. I was restrained from going the whole length
of the suggestion by the following considerations. First, I did
not know to what extent or when any plan would be so matured
for the establishment of a university, as would enable any
assurances to be given to the application of M. D’Ivernois.
Secondly, the propriety of transplanting the professors in a
body might be questioned for several reasons; among others,
because they might not all be good characters, nor all suffi-
ciently acquainted with our language. And again, having been
at variance with the levelling parties of their own country, the
measure might be considered as an aristocratical movement by
more than those, who, without any just cause that I can dis-
cover, are continually sounding the bell of aristocracy. And,
thirdly, because it might preclude some of the first professors
in other countries from a participation, among whom some of
the most celebrated characters in Scotland, in this line, might
be obtained.” ” * -
But On one point Washington expressed himself more fully
to Adams than he did to Jefferson. *
“My opinion, with respect to emigration, is, that except of
useful mechanics, and some particular descriptions of men or
professions, there is no need of encouragement; while the policy
or advantage of its taking place in a body (I mean the settling
of them in a body) may be questioned; for by so doing they
retain the language, habits, and principles, good or bad, which
they bring with them. Whereas, by an intermixture with our
people, they or their descendents get assimilated to our
customs, measures, and laws; in a word, soon become one
people.”
* Sparks, XI, 25.
VII.
Our story now descends from the lofty heights to which M.
I)’Ivernois and Mr. Jefferson have raised it, to its former pro-
saic level.
As the year 1796 wore on, Washington was revolving in his
mind his Farewell Address. As is well known, he consulted
Alexander Hamilton as to the substance and the style of this
address. Writing September 1, he expressed his regret at the
omission from a rough draft which he had previously trans-
mitted to Hamilton of a subject in which he was deeply inter-
ested.
“I mean education generally, as one of the surest means of
enlightening and giving just ways of thinking to our citizens,
but particularly the establishment of a university; where the
youth from all parts of the United States might receive the
polish of erudition in the arts, sciences, and belles-lettres; and
where those who were disposed to run a political course might
not only be instructed in the theory and principles, but (this
seminary being at the seat of the general government) where the
legislature would be in session half the year, and the inter-
ests and politics of the nation of course would be discussed,
they would lay the surest foundation for the practical part also.
“But that which would render it of the highest importance,
in my opinion, is, that at the juvenal period of life, when
friendships are formed, and habits established, that stick by one,
the youth, or young men from different parts of the United
States would be assembled together, and would by degrees dis-
cover that there was not that cause for those jealousies and
préfédicies which one part of the Union had imbibed against
another part:-of course, sentiments of more liberality in the
géféral policy of the country would result from it. What but the
mixing of people from different parts of the United States
during the war rubbed off these impressions? A century, in
the Ordinary intercourse, would not have accomplished what the
Seven years' association in arms did; but that ceasing, preju-
dices are beginning to revive again, and never will be eradicated
SO effectually by any other means as the intimate intercourse of
characters in early life, who, in all probability, will be at the
head of the counsels of this country in a more advanced
stage of it. *
“To show that this is no new idea of mine, I may appeal to
my early communications to Congress; and to prove how seri-
ously I have reflected on it since, and how well disposed I have
been, and still am, to contribute my aid toward carrying the
measure into effect, I enclose you an extract of a letter from me

— 16 —
to the Governor of Virginia on this subject, and a copy of the
resolves of the legislature of that State in consequence thereof.
“I have not the smallest doubt that this donation (when the
navigation is in complete operation, which it certainly will be
in less than two years) will amount to 1200 or 1500 pounds.
sterling a year, and become a rapidly increasing fund. The
proprietors of the Federal City have talked of doing something
handsome towards it likewise; and if Congress would appro-
priate some of the western lands to the same uses, funds suffi-
cient, and of the most permanent and increasing sort, might be
so established as to invite the ablest professors in Europe to
conduct it.” ”
Hamilton advised that it would be better to bring the uni-
versity forward in the annual speech at the opening of the
approaching session of Congress. In this view Washington
acquiesced, though with some reluctance. He wrote the 6th of
September: g
“If you think that the idea of a university had better be
reserved for the speech at the opening of the session, I am
content to defer the communication of it until that period;
but, even in that case, I would pray you, as soon as convenient, to
make a draft for the occasion, predicated on the ideas with which
you have been furnished; looking, at the same time, into what was
said on this head in my second speech to the First Congress,
merely with a view to see what was said on the subject at that
time; and this, you will perceive, was not so much to the point as
I want to express now, though it may, if proper, be glanced at, to
show that the subject had caught my attention early.
“But, to be candid, I much question whether a recomme
tion of this measure to the Legislature will have a better e
now than formerly. It may show, indeed, my sense of its i
tance, and that is a sufficient inducement with me to bri
matter before the public in some shape or another at the Gººs-
ing scenes of my political exit. My object for proposing to insert
it where I did (if not improper), was to set the people ruminat-
ing on the importance of the measure, as the most likely means
of bringing it to pass.” f
The Farewell Address, accordingly, makes no mention of the
university, but contains the golden sentences so often quoted:
“Promote as an object of primary importance institutions
for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the
structure of government gives force to public opinion, it is
essential that public opinion should be enlightened.”
* The Works of Alexander Hamilton, VI, 147, 148.
+ The Works of Alexander Hamilon, V.I., 149, 150.



— 17 —
VIII.
One of Washington's favorite ideas was the establishment of
a military school. He remembered vividly the almost total lack
of educated American officers in the Revolutionary army, espe-
cially of engineers, and also the sore embarrassments growing
out of the influx of foreign officers. In 1793 he had recom-
mended to Congress as a “national feature of the military
system to be created the provision of an opportunity for the
study of those branches of the military art which can scarcly
ever be attained by practice alone;” and he now brought the
two ideas forward in his last annual speech to Congress, deliv-
ered December 7, 1796. He devotes two paragraphs to the
university. & -
“The assembly to which I address myself is too enlightened
not to be fully sensible how much a flourishing state of the arts
and sciences contributes to national prosperity and reputation.
True it is that our country, much to its honor, contains many
seminaries of learning highly respectable and useful; but the
funds upon which they rest are too narrow to command the ablest.
professors, in the different departments of liberal knowledge,
for the institution contemplated, though they would be excellent.
auxillaries.
Amongst the motives to such an institution, the assimilation
of the principles, opinions, and manners of Our country-
men, by the common education of a portion of Our youth
fr every quarter, well deserves attention. The more homo-
ous our citizens can be made in these particulars, the
ter will be our prospects of permanent union; and a
ry object of such a national institution should be the edu-
of our youth in the science of government. In a republic,
whº species of knowledge can be equally important, and what
duty more pressing on its legislature, than to patronize a plan
for communicating it to those who are to be the future guard-
ians of the liberties of the country?”
The fears that Washington expressed to Hamilton were
fully justified by the event. Congress treated the university as
it had done before, with silence.
IX.
In his will Washington fully relates the history of the shares
in Navigation Companies that he held; he also argues at some
length the university question, expressing once more his regret
that Agºrican youth should resort to foreign countries in quest
9.
p






— 18 —
of education; and then disposes of the Potomac shares in this
item:
“I give and bequeath, in perpetuity, the 50 shares which
I hold in the Potomac Company (under the aforesaid acts of the
Legislature of Virginia) towards the endowment of a university,
to be established within the limits of the District of Colum-
bia, under the auspices of the general government, if that
government should incline to extend a fostering hand towards
it; and, until such a seminary is established, and the funds aris-
ing on these shares shall be required for its support, my further
will and desire is, that the profit accruing therefrom shall,
Whenever dividends are made, be laid out in purchasing stock
in the Bank of Columbia, or some other bank, at the discretion
of my executors, or by the Treasurer of the United States for
the time being, under the direction of Congress; provided that
honorable body' should patronize the measure; and the divi-
dends proceeding from the purchase of such stock is to be
vested in more stock, and so on, until a sum adequate to the ac-
complishment of the object is obtained; of which I have not the
smallest doubt before many years pass away, even if no aid or
encouragement is given by legislative authority, or from any
other source.” -
The executing of his will was Washington's last act in rela-
tion to a university. Congress took no steps to make the
above provisions effectual. Dr. Goode says: “The value of the
bequest was at the time placed at 5000 pounds sterling, and it
was computed by Blodget, that had Congress kept faith with
Washington, as well as did the Legislature of Virginia sin
regard to the endowment of Washington College, his donatiºn
at compound interest would in twelve years (1815) have gºn
to $50,000 and in twenty-four years (1827) to $100,000;ian
endowment sufficient to establish one of the colleges in the pro-
posed university.” The Potomac stock paid but one dividend.
Still, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and later the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad, were developments of the project. Dr. H.
B. Adams suggests that “the actual fate of Washington’s
endowment of a national university would be a good subject
for a Congressional investigation when other scientific subjects
are exhausted.” ” e
Such is the history of Washington’s connection with the
proposed university. It is but a part, however, of his whole
* William and Mary College, 44.
— i9 —
relation to the subject of higher education. The facts recited
suggest some reflections. w
First, it is apparent that the National University idea
attracted considerable attention when our present government
was in process of establishment. It seems, in fact, to have
been quite commonly assumed that such an institution would be
established, when the fitting time came. Some may read
between the lines that small, provincial ideas prevailed a cen-
tury ago. Not only Washington’s ideas but also Jefferson's
may appear strangély inadequate as respects ways and means.
But we must remember that the whole scale of things has
increased enormously in one hundred years, and that ideas
which were then large are to-day small. The point at which
Washington was most at variance with current practice was his
strong objection to sending American youth abroad to study.
Very clearly, he did not see that his plan for keeping them at
home would, in the long run, be the surest means of sending
them abroad. But here, again, conditions have greatly changed.
No man could then foresee, what experience has thus far proved,
that the better and the more numerous American Universities
became, the larger the number of students who would flock to
those of Europe. Even Jefferson wrote, after studying foreign
educational institutions, that, besides speaking the modern lan-
guages, every article of general education desirable for an
American youth to have, could be as well acquired at William
and Mary College as in any place in Europe.
X.
Just how much interest there was at the time in the
university proposition, it would be hard to say. Dr. Goode
prints as an apendix to his Monograph an able letter that
appeared in “The Pennsylvania Gazette ’’ of November 29, 1788,
in which the writer, who is thought to have been Dr. Benjamin
Rush, not only elaborates a “Plan of a Federal University,”
which is his title, but argues that the new Constitution can suc-
ceed only through an education adapted to the new and peculiar
condition of the country, and insists that a national establish-
ment is essential to that end. “To effect that great and neces-
sary work,” he says, “let one of the first acts of the new
— 20 — - º
Congress be to establish within the district to be allotted to
them a Federal University, into which the youth of the United
States shall be received after they have finished their studies
and taken degrees in the colleges of their respective States. In
this University let those branches of literature only be taught
which are calculated to prepare our youth for public and civil
life.” This earnest paragraph may be quoted entire:
“Let it not be said thst this is not the time for such a liter-
ary and political establishment. Let us first restore public
credit, by funding or paying our debts—let us regulate our
militia—let us build a navy—and let us protect and extend our
commerce. After that we shall have leisure and money to
establish a University for the purposes that have been men-
tioned. This is false reasoning. We shall never restore, pub-
lick credit—regulate our militia—build a navy—or revive our
commerce, until we remove the ignorance and prejudices, and
change the habits of our citizens, and this can never be done
until we inspire them with federal principles, which can only be
effected by our young men meeting and spending two or three
years together in a National University, and afterward dlssem-
inating their knowledge and principles through every county,
town, and village in the United States. Until this is done
—Senators and Representatives of the United States, you will
uedertake to make brick without straw. Your supposed union
in Congress will be a rope of sand. The inhabitants of Massa-
chusets began the business of government by establishing the
University of Cambridge, and the wisest Kings of Europe have
always found their literary institutions the surest means of
establishing their power, as well as premoting the prosperity of
their people.”
However, this was not the first time that Dr. Rush had
spoken upon the subject. Dr. Goode reprints from Niles's
“Principles and Acts of the Revolution in America,” an “Ad-
dress to to the people of the United States” that Rush had
published in 1787. This address begins: “There is nothing
more common than to confound the terms of the American
Revolution with those of the late American war. The Amer-
ican war is over, but this is far from being the case with
the American Revolution.” Here, too, he pleads for the
dissemination of knowledge throughout every part of the
United States; for “this purpose,” he says, “let Congress, in-
stead of laying out half a million of dollars in building a
Federal Town, appropriate only a fourth of that sum in found-
— 21 —
ing a Federal University.” His closing words are, “The Rev-
loution is not over.”
XI.
The first President Adams was in thorough sympathy with
all reasonable efforts to advance learning and science. His
writings abound in interesting passages relating to the sub-
ject of education. Nor was he restrained from urging a
national university by any constitutional theories. Still, the
only utterance on the subject that I have found in his various
addresses to Congress is coutained in his Inaugural Address.
This is a strong avowal of “a love of science and letters, and a
wish to patronize every rational effort to encourage schools, col-
leges, universities, academies, and every institution for propo-
gating knowledge, virtue, and religion among all classes of the
people, not only for their benign influence on the happiness of
life in all its stages and classes, and of society in all its forms,
but as the only means of preserving our constitution from its
natural enemies, the spirit of Sophistry, the spirit of party, the
spirit of intrigue, the profligacy of corruption, and the pestil-
ence of foreign influence, which is the angel of destruction to
elective governments.” Adams's administration was a troubled
One; and he may have been restrained by a conviction that no
mere recommendation of his on such a matter would avail. He
was familiar, too, with the ill-success that had attended Wash-
ington's efforts, although they were enforced by a proffered en-
dowment. Besides, his addresses to Congress were brief and
his recommendations few in number.
XII.
If any President could have identified his name with a real
national university, undoubtedly it was Thomas Jefferson.
He was borne into the presidential chair by a powerful and
enthusiastic party, well accustomed to follow his leadership.
The Federal City was now established, and the National revenues
increased beyond the wants of the government. Since 1787 the
expectation had been more or less general that a university
would be established when the propitious time should arrive,
and for several years at the beginning of the century this
— 22 — |
expectation was materially strengthened. In many respects
Mr. Jefferson was the very man to take up and press the plan
that Washington had laid down only with his life. He was one
of the most liberal-minded Americans of the day. His interest
in Science was so great that he protested time and again his
strong preference for study and investigation to the strifes of
politics. He held advanced views on higher education. Years
before, in company with Chancellor Wythe, he had matured
and brought forward an elaborate plan for the establishment of
a system of public schools in Virginia. He had carefully
studied the subject of education abroad. He had warmly
espoused the Geneva-removal scheme. And he was yet to found
the University of Virginia, that he considered one of his three
chief titles to remembrance, the other two being the authorship
of the Declaration of Independence and the establishment of
religious liberty in Virginia. It werily seemed to many that
now, since Science and Philosophy had ascended the Chief
Magistrate's chair, the propitious to found the National Univer-
sity had come. All such expectations were cruelly disappointed.
Mr. Jefferson mentioned the subject but once in his various
communications to Congress. In his sixth annual message,
delivered September 2, 1806, discussing the state of the public
finances, he said there would “ere long be an accumulation of
moneys in the Treasury beyond the installments of public debt
which we are permitted by contract to pay,” and asked what
should be done with the surplus. He thought the public would
not consent to a large reduction of revenue, but rather insist
upon its “continuance and application to the great purposes of
public education, roads, rivers, canals, and such other objects of
public improvement as it may be thought proper to add to the
constitutional enumeration of Federal powers.” He thus con-
tinues:
“Education is here placed among the articles of public care,
not that it would be proposed to take its ordinary branches out
of the hands of private enterprise, which manages so much bet-
ter all the concerns to which it is equal; but a public institution
can alone supply those sciences which, though rarely called for,
are yet necessary to complete the circle, all the parts of which
contribute to the improvement of the country, and some of
them to its preservation. The subject is now proposed for the
— 23 —
consideration of Congress, because, if approved by the time the
State Legislatures shall have deliberated on this extension of
the Federal trusts, and the laws shall be passed and other
arrangements made for their execution, the necessary funds will
be on hand and without employment. I suppose an amendment
to the Constitution, by consent of the States, necessary, because
the objects now recommended are not included among those
enumerated in the Constitution, and to which it permits public
moneys to be applied.
“The present consideration of a National establishment for
education, particularly, is rendered proper by this circumstance
also, that if Congress, approving the proposition, shall yet
think it more eligible to found it on a donation of lands, they
have it now in their power to endow it with those which will be
among the earliest to produce the necessary income. This
foundation would have the advantage of being independent of
war, which may suspend other improvements by requiring for
its own purposes the resources destined for them.”
This feeble outcome will not surprise any one who is ac-
Quainted with the facts of the case. There is no reason to Sup-
pose that Mr. Jefferson was at any time interested in a national
university in the sense that Washington or Madison was inter-
ested in it. His sincere devotion to education is unquestioned;
but he wished to gain his ends rather through State than United
States agencies. In fact, his idea in urging the Genevan Scheme
was Virginian rather than National, as his letter to Washington
shows. Withal, his constitutional theories stood in his way.
His mere mention that a constitutional amendment would be
necessary before any portion of the surplus revenue could be
devoted to a university, was quite enough to put an end for the
time to the undertaking. *
XIII.
In 1800 Joel Barlow, poet, politician, and speculator, but
then minister in Paris, wrote Senator Baldwin, of Georgia,
* Mr. Jefferson seems to have thought that the proposition to annend the Consti-
tution in favor of the university would meet with an immediate response. In a
letter to Mr. Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, relative to the message of 1806, he
Wrote: “The University.—This proposition will pass the States in all the winter of
1807–8, and Congress will not meet, and consequently cannot act on it. till the winter
of 1808–9. The Florida, debt will therefore be paid off before the university can call
for anything.” Gallatin replied, two days later, that the proposition would cer–
tainly be unpopular, while public works would be popular. “I think, indeed,” he
Said, “that the only chance of the adoption arises from the ease with which funds
in the public lands may be granted.” Adams: The Writings of Albert Gallatin, I,
313–319. It is needless to say which one of the two rmen had read public sentimerit
more correctly.
— 24 —
urging a National Scientific Institution, of which he proposed
that he should be made the head. He wrote to Mr. Jefferson
urging the same proposition. In 1805 Barlow returned home,
and almost immediately issued his “Prospectus of a National
Institution to be established in the United States.” This pros-
pectus begins with the declaration: “The project for erecting a
university at the seat of the Federal Government is brought
forward at the happy moment and on liberal principles.” It is
a review of the state of learning and science in Europe, with
accounts of the educational and scientific institutions supported
by various governments, and especially by that of France. Then
follows Barlow's own plan of an institution for the United
States, drawn upon the most liberal scale. The paper closes
with a strong appeal to Congress and to “opulent citizens” to
make a liberal endowment for so great an object. Too much
time has already been lost. “The National Intelligencer,” the
administration organ, commented favorably upon Barlow's
scheme. The Prospectus was circulated, throughout the coun-
try, meeting with much favor. Barlow drew up a bill for the
incorporation of the institution which, introduced into the Sen-
ate, passed to a second reading, was referred to a committee, and
never heard of again.”
XIV.
On becoming President, Mr. Madison did not forget the
interest he had taken in the university twenty years before.
On this subject, at least, he did not share Mr. Jefferson’s consti-
tutional views. He had no trouble in finding constitutional
authority for a national university in the Federal District.
Three times he brought the proposition forward. In his second
annual message he said:
“While it is universally admitted that a well instructed peo-
ple alone can be permanently a free people, and while it is evi-
dent that the means of diffusing and improving useful knowl-
edge form so small a proportion of the expenditures for national
purposes, I cannot presume it to be unreasonable to invite your
attention to the advantages of superadding to the means of edu-
cation provided by the several States a seminary of learning
*I am indebted to Dr. Goode’s Monograph for the above facts in relation to Bar-
low’s scheme. He prints the Prospectus in full. See also Todd’s “Life of Joel
Barlow.”
— 25 —
instituted by the National Legislature, within the limits of their
exclusive jurisdiction, the expense of which might be defrayed
or reimbursed out of the vacant grounds which have accrued to
the Nation within those limits.
“Such an institution, though local in its legal character,
would be universal in its beneficial effects. By enlightening
the opinions, by expanding the patriotism, and by assimilating
the principles, the sentiments, and the manners of those who
might resort to this temple of science, to be redistributed in due
time through every part of the community, sources of jealousy
and prejudice would be diminished, the features of national
character would be multiplied, and greater extent given to social
harmony. But above all, a well-constituted seminary, in the
center of the Nation, is recommended by the consideration that
the additional instruction eminating from it would contribute
not less to strengthen the foundations than to adorn the struc-
ture of our free and happy system of government.”
The war with England over, President Madison in 1817
returned to the subject. He said in seventh annual message:
“The present is a favorable season, also, for bringing again
into view, the establishment of a national seminary of learning
within the District of Columbia, and with means drawn from
the property therein, subject to the authority of the General
Government. Such an institution claims the patronage of Con-
gress as a monument of their solicitude for the advancement of
knowledge without which the blessings of liberty cannot be
fully enjoyed or long preserved; as a model instructive in the
formation of other seminaries; as a nursery of enlightened pre-
ceptors; as a central resort of youth and genius from every part
of their country, diffusing on their return examples of those
national feelings, those liberal sentiments, and those congenial
manners, which contribute cement to our union, and strength to
the political fabric of which that is the foundation.”
And again in his last annual message he said:
“The importance which I have attached to the establishment
of a university within this District, on a scale and for objects
worthy of the American nation, induces me to renew my recom-
mendation of it to the favorable consideration of Congress.
And I particularly invite again their attention to the expediency
of exercising their existing powers, and where necessary, of
resorting to the prescribed mode of enlarging them, in order to
effectuate a comprehensive system of roads and canals, such as
will have the effect of drawing more closely together every part
of our country by promoting intercourse and improvements, and
by increasing the share of every part in the common stock of
national prosperity.” -
— 26 ––
XV.
Mr. Monroe shared the constitutional scruples of Mr. Jeffer-
son. In his first message he recommended such amendment of
the Constitution as would admit of internal improvements being
made by Congress. He flattered himself that “the benign
spirit of conciliation and harmony” prevailing throughout the
Union, promised to such a recommendation the most prompt
and favorable result. He added: -
“I think proper to suggest, also, in case this measure is
adopted, that it be recommended to the States to include in the
amendment sought a right in Congress to institute, likewise, .
Seminaries of learning, for the all-important purpose of diffusing
among our fellow citizens throughout the United States.”
XVI.
The second President Adams, in breadth of intellectual
attainments and sympathies, was inferior to no man who has
filled the Presidential office. He had acted for many years with
the Virginia school of politics, but he did not regard their con-
stitutional subtleties. He was, in fact, a broad-constructionist,
holding large views on all subjects of a National character. As
Secretary of State, he had made a celebrated Report on Weights
and Measures, which is still considered one of the most valuable
documents on that subject ever written. As the recommenda-
tions of that report had not been enacted into law, he naturally
took Occasion, in his first annual message, to draw the attention
of Congress to the subject again, connecting it with the pro-
found, laborious, and expensive researches into the figure of the
earth and the comparative length of the pendulum vibrating
seconds in various latitudes from the equator to the poles, that
had been made in Europe. He thought it would be honorable
to the country to share in these investigations; and as a means
of making this possible he went on to say: -
“Connected with the establishment of a university, or
separate from it, might be undertaken the erection of an astro-
nomical observatory, with provision for the support of an astro-
nomer, to be in constant attendance of observation upon the
phenomena of the heavens; and for the periodical publication
of his observations. It is with no feeling of price, as an Amer-
ican, that the remark may be made that, on the comparatively
small territorial surface of Europe, there are existing upward
– 27–
of 130 of these light houses of the skies; while throughout the
whole American hemisphere there is not one. If we reflect a
moment upon the discoveries which, in the last four centuries,
have been made in the physical constitution of the universe, by
the means of these buildings, and of observers stationed in
them, shall we doubt of their usefulness to every nation? And
while scarcely a year passes over our heads without bringing
Some new astronomical discovery to light, which we must fain
receive at second hand from Europe, are we not cutting our-
selves off from the means of returning light for light, while we
have neither observatory nor observer upon our half of the
globe, and the earth revolves in perpetual darkness to Our
unsearching eyes?” *
He referred in fitting terms to the interest that his first pre-
decessor had taken in institutions and seminaries of learning,
saying that, if he could now survey the city which had been
honored with his name, he would see the spot of earth which he
had destined and bequethed to the use and benefit of his coun-
try as the site for a university still bare and barren.
If possible, John Quincy Adams's recommendations had less
weight with Congress than his fathers’ had had, and this one
was perhaps the least fortunate of all. It was received with
Shouts of derisive merriment that show, not merely the furious
partisan rancour of 1825, but also the low state of science in the
United States. With March 4, 1829, American politics took a
new departure, and the National University passed out of sight.
The six first Presidents had recommended such an institution
more or less warmly; and it is painful to think that, whatever
its merits, it should have expired amid the inextinguishable
laughter with which the recommendation of a “light house in
the skies” was greeted.
The purpose of the compiler of these documents is to ex-
hibit the views of the early Presidents concerning a National
University, and not to give a full history of the subject. Those
who wish to pursue the subject more fully are referred to the
bibliography following the documents. Mr. F. W. Blackmar
tells us that in 1796 a memorial was before Congress praying
for the foundation of a university; that again in 1811 the sub-
ject was considered by a Congressional committee, which re-
ported that it would be unconstitutional for Congress to found,
endow, and control such a seminary; and that another Congres-
Sional committee considered the subject in 1816, but with no
practical results. (His references are Ex. Doc. 4th Congress, 2nd
— 28 —
, Session; Ex. TXoc. 11th Congress, 3d Session; Ex. Doc. 14th
Congress, 2nd Session). He also remarks, as others have done,
that Congress has founded and supported the National Museum,
the Library of Congress, the National Observatory, and the
Bureau of Education, that in some sense take the place of a
university. In fact, the National Observatory now stands on
“ University Square,” that Washington had chosen as the site
of the university. Mr. Blackmar also draws attention to the
fact that, although the university question was considered prac-
tically settled after 1816, it was reopened for discussion when
Congress came to dispose of the Smithson request, and again
in 1873 following the Paris Exposition. At this time a bill was
before the House of Representatives providing for a university
at Washington, endowed by Congress to the amount of $20,000,-
000, yielding 5 per cent interest; the income to be used for
buildings, furnishings, and for the general support of the insti-
tution. (House Report No. 89, 42nd Congress, 3d Session 90).*
Mention may also be made of the bill introduced into the
United States Senate by Hon. George F. Edmunds, May 14,
1890, entitled “A bill to establish the University of the United
States.” This bill was read twice and referred to a select com-
mittee of nine.
* Federal and State Aid of Higher Education 39, 40, 41.
II, *e,
NATIONAL LEGISLATION
RELATION TO EDUCATION
An ordinance for Ascertaining the Mode of Disposing of
Lands in the Western Territory, Adopted by Congress May
20, 1785. - -
Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled,
that the territory ceded by individual States to the United
States, which has been purchased of the Indian inhabitants,
shall be disposed of in the following manner . . . . The
surveyors, as they are respectively qualified, shall proceed to
divide the said territory into townships of 6 miles square, by
lines running due north and South, and others crossing these at
right angles, as near as may be. . . . .
The plats of the townships respectively, shall be marked by
subdivisions into lots of One mile square, or 640 acres, in the
same direction as the external lines, and numbered from 1 to
36, always beginning the succeeding range of the lots with the
number next to that with which the preceding one concluded.
[That is, beginning in the northeast corner and numbering back
and forth, west and east.] . . . . *
There shall be reserved the lot No. 16 of every township,
for the maintenance of public schools, within the said township.
II.
An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the
United States Northwest of the River Ohio, Adopted by Con-
gress July 13, 1787. Article III of Compacts. *
Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good
government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the
means of education shall forever be encouraged.
III.
Powers to the Board of Treasury, to Contract for the Sale
of the Western Territory, Adopted by Congress July 23, 1787.
The lot No. 16 in each township, or fractional part of a
township, to be given perpetually for the purposes contained in
— 30 —
the said ordinance [1785]. The lot No. 29, in each township or
fractional part of a township, to be given perpetually for the
purposes of religion. . . . Not more than two complete town-
ships to be given perpetually for the purpose of a University,
to be laid off by the purchaser or purchasers, as near the center
as may be, so that the same shall be of good land, to be applied
to the intended object by the legislature of the State.
These are the powers under which the sale of 1,500,000 acres
of land, on the north side of the River Ohio, was made to the
Ohio Company of Associates, represented by Manasseh Cutler
and Winthrop Sargent, agents. .
IV
Enabling Act for Ohio, Approved April 30, 1802.
And be it further enacted . . . . that the section No.
16 in every township, and where such section has been sold,
granted, or disposed of, other lands equivalent thereto and most
contigious to the same shall be granted to the inhabitants of
such township for the use of schools . . . . . provided
always . . .
By an act approved March 3, 1803, Congress vested in the
Tlegislature all lands granted to Ohio for the use of schools, “ in
trust for the use aforesaid, and for no other use, interest, or
purpose whatever.” -
V.
The Constitution of Ohio, Adopted 1802.
* Religion, morality, and knowledge being essen-
tially necessary to good government and the happiness of man-
kind, schools and the means of instruction shall forever be
encouraged by legislative provision, not inconsistent with the
rights of conscience. . . .
That no law shall be passed to prevent the poor in the sev-
eral counties and townships within this State from an equal
participation in the schools, academies, and universities within
this State, which are endowed, in whole or in part, from the
revenues arising from donations made by the United States for
the support of schools and colleges; and the doors of said
schools, academies, and universities shall be open for the recep-
tion of scholars, students and teachers of every grade, without
distinction or any preference whatever, contrary to the intent
for which the said donations were made.
This is the earliest constitutional provision growing out of
the educational land grants.
Grant of Lands Made to Michigan for Schools, Act Ap-
proved June 23, 1836.
VI.
That section No. 16 in every Township of the public lands
within said State, and when such section has been sold or other-
wise disposed of, other lands equivalent thereto, and as con-
tiguous as may be, shall be granted to the State for the use of
schools. © . *
This is the first instance in which the school lands granted
to any State were granted in block, and not to the Townships
severally. The precedent have since been followed.
VII.
An Act to Establish the Territorial Government of Oregon,
Approved August 14, 1848, Section 20.
“That when the lands in the said Territory shall be surveyed
under the direction of the government of the United States,
preparatory to bringing the same into market, sections num-
bered 16 and 36 in each Township of the said Territory shall
be and the same is hereby reserved for the purpose of being
applied to schools in said Territory, and in the States and Ter-
ritories hereafter to be erected out of the same.”
This was the first act appropriating section No. 36 as well
as 16 for the support of schools. California was the first State
to receive the two sections to the Township. .
VIII.
An Act Donating Public Lands to the Several States and
Territories which may Provide Colleges for the Benefit of Agri-
culture and Mechanic Arts. Approved July 2, 1862.
|Abstract.]
1. That there be granted to the several States, for the pur-
poses hereinafter mentioned, an amount of public land, to be
apportioned to each State, a quantity equal to 30,000 acres for
each Senator and Representative in Congress to which the
States are respectively entitled by the apportionment under
the census of 1860. . . . -
2. That . . . whenever there are public lands in a State
subject to sale at private entry at $1.25 per acre, the quantity to
which said State shall be entitled shall be selected from such
lands within the limits of such State, and the Secretary of the
Interior is hereby directed to issue to each of the States in which
there is not the quantity of public lands subject to sale at pri-
vate entry at $1.25 per acre to which the said State may be
entitled under the provisions of this act, land scrip to the amount
in acres for the deficiency of its distributive share; said scrip to
be sold by said States and the proceeds thereof applied to the
uses and purposes prescribed in this act, and for no other use or
purpose whatsoever.
3. That all the expenses of management, superintendence,
and taxes from date of selection of said lands, previous to their
sales, and all expenses incurred in the management and dis-
bursement of the moneys which may be received therefrom,
shall be paid by the States to which they may belong, out of the
treasury of said States, so that the entire proceeds of the sale of
said lands shall be applied without any diminution whatever to:
the purposes hereinafter mentioned. -
4. That all moneys derived from the sale of the lands afore-
said by the State to which the lands are apportioned, and from
the sales of land scrip hereinbefore provided for, shall be
invested in stocks of the United States, or of the States, or
some other safe stocks, yielding not less than 5 per centum
unless it shall express its acceptance thereof by its legislature
upon the par value of said stocks; and that the moneys so
invested shall constitute a perpetual fund, the capital of which
shall remain forever undiminished (except so far as may be
provided in section fifth of this act), and the interest of which
shall be inviolably appropriated, by each State which may take
and claim the benefit of this act, to the endowment, support, and
maintenance of at least one college where the leading object.
shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies,
and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learn-
ing as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such
manner as the legislatures of the States may respectively pre-
scribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of
#. industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in
life. * -
5. That the grant of land and land scrip hereby authorized
shall be made on the following conditions, to which, as well as
to the provisions hereinbefore contained, the previous assent of
the several States shall be signified by legislative acts:
(1) If any portion of the fund invested, as provided by the
foregoing section, or any portion of the interest thereon, shall,
by any action or contingency, be diminished or lost . . . . it
shall be replaced by the State to which it belongs, and the
annual interest shall be regularly applied without diminution
to the purposes mentioned in the fourth section of this act,
except that a sum, not exceeding 10 per centum upon the amount
received by any State under the provisions of this act, may be
expended for the purchase of lands for sites or experimental
farms, whenever authorized by the respective legislatures of
said States. -
(2) No portion of said fund, nor interest thereon, shall be
applied, to the purchase, erection, preservation, or repair of any
building or buildings.
— 33 —
(3) Any State which may take and claim the benefit of the
provisions of this act shall provide, within 5 years, at least
not less than one college, as described in the fourth section of
this act, or the grant to such State shall cease; and said State
shall be bound to pay the United States the amount received of
any lands previously sold.
(4) An annual report shall be made regarding the progress
of each college, recording any improvements and experiments
made, with their costs and results, and such other matters,
including State industrial and economical statistics, as may be
Supposed useful. -
(5) When lands shall be selected from those which have been
raised to double the minimum price, in consequence of railroad
grants, they shall be computed to the States at the maximum
price, and the number of acres proportionally diminished.
(6) No State while in a condition of rebellion or insurrec-
tion against the government of the United States shall be
entitled to the benefits of this act.
(7) No State shall be entitled to the benefits of this act,
unless it shall express its acceptance thereof by its legislature.
within two years from the date of its approval by the President.
(8) That the Governors of the several States to which scrip.
shall be issued under the act shall be required to report annually
to Congress all sales made of such scrip until the whole shall be.
disposed of, the amount received for the same, and what appro-
priation has been made of the proceeds.
In 1866, the time fixed in the above act within which the
States must comply with its provisions in order to enjoy its
benefits, was extended in the interest of States that had been.
unable to do so, and the next year a special extension was made
in the interest of Tennessee.
IX.
An Act to Establish Agricultural Experiment Stations in
Connection with the Colleges Established in the Several States
under the Provisions of an Act Approved July 2, 1862, and of
the Acts Supplementary thereto. Approved March 2, 1887.
The first 4 sections of this act prescribe the requirements
made of the States in respect to agricultural experiments. Sec-
tion 5 is in these words:
That for the purpose of paying the necessary expenses of
99nducting investigations and experiments and printing and
distributing the results as hereinbefore described, the sum of
$15,000 per annum is hereby appropriated to each State to
be especially provided for by Congress in the appropriations
from year to year, and to each Territory entitled under the
provision of section 8 of this act, out of any money in the
treasury proceeding from the sale of public lands, the same
to be paid in equal quarterly payments, on the first day of
eL)
— 34 —
January, April, July, and October in each year, to the treas-
urer or other officer duly appointed by the governing boards
of said colleges to receive the same, the first payment to be
made on the first day of October, 1887. Provided, however,
that out of the first annual appropriation so received by any
station an amount not exceeding one-fifth may be expended in
the erection, enlargement, or repair of a building or buildings
necessary for carrying on the work, of such a station; and
thereafter an amount not exceeding 5 per centum of such annual
appropriation may be so expended.
X.
An act approved August 30, 1890, provided–
That there shall be, and hereby is, annually appropriated out
of the money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, aris-
ing from the sales of public lands, to be paid as hereinafter
provided, to each State and Territory for the more complete
endowment and maintenance of colleges for the benefit of agri-
culture and the mechanic arts now established, in accordance
with an act of Congress approved July 2, 1862, the sum of
$15,000 for the year ending June 30th, 1890, and an annual
increase of the amount of such appropriation thereafter for 10
years by an additional sum of $1,000 over the preceding year,
and the annual amount to be paid thereafter to each State and
Territory shall be $25,000, to be applied only to instruction
in agriculture, the mechanic arts, the English language, and the
Various branches of mathematical, physical, natural, and eco-
nomic science, with special reference to their application to the
industries of life, and to the facilities for such instruction.
XI.
March 2, 1867, an act was approved to establish a Depart-
ment of Education. The following year this department was
reduced to the rank of a bureau. These are the sections of the
Revised Statutes of the United States relating to the subject:
Sec. 516. There shall be in the Department of the Interior
a Bureau called the Office of Education, the purpose and duties
of which shall be to collect statistics and facts showing the con-
dition and progress of education in the several States and Ter-
ritories, and to diffuse such information respecting the Organiza-
tion and managent of schools and school-systems and methods
of teaching, as shall aid the people of the United States in the
establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and
otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country.
Sec. 517. The management of the Office of Education shall,
subject to the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, be
intrusted to a Commissioner of Education, who shall be
appointed by the President, by and with the consent of the Sen-
ate, and shall be entitled to a salary of $3,000 a year.
— 35 —
Sec. 518.
The Commissioner of Education shall present
annually to Congress a report embodying the results of his
investigations and labors, together with a statement of such
facts and recommendations as will, in his judgment, subserve
the purpose for which the office is established. -
Sec. 519. The Chief of Engineers shall furnish proper
officers for the use of the Office of Education.
EDUCATIONAL LAND GRANTS,
I.
GRANTS OF LANDS TO STATES AND RESERVATIONS TO TERRI-
TORIES FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES.
States and Territories.
Total Area.
Dates of Grants. -
Section 16. A cres.
Ohio...................................... 704,488 March 3, 1803,
Indiana ................................ 650,317 April 19, 1816.
Illinois......... .. * * * * * * * * * * * * * tº & © tº gº tº 985,066 April 18, 1818.
Missouri...... ................ ......... 1,199,139 March 6, 1820.
Alabama............................... 902,774 March 2, 1819.
* March 3, 1803.
Mississippi............................ • * * * 837,584 May 19, 1852.
t March 3, 1857.
tº º - y ſº (Y , April 21, 1806.
Louisiana.............................. 786,044 } February 15, 1843.
Michigan............................... 1,067,397 June 23, 1836.
Arkansas........... .................... 886,460 June 23, 1836.
Florida............ ..................... 908,503 March 3, 1845.
Iowa............................... ..... 905,144 March 3, 1845.
Wisconsin......... ....., * * * * * * e s is a e s e e 958,649 August 6, 1846.
Sections 16 and 36.
California......... .................... 6,719,324 March 3, 1853.
Minnesota............................. 2,969,990 February 26, 1857.
Oregon.................................. 3,329,706 February 14, 1859.
Ransas....... ......................... 2,801,306 January 29, 1861.
Nevada.................................. 3,985,428 March 21, 1864.
Nebraska ................... ........ 2,702,044 April 19, 1864.
Colorado... .......................... 3,715,555 Match 3, 1875.
Washington Territory............ 2,488,675 * 2, ; £
* ~ -- r g º (Y O Q eptember 9, 1850.
New Mexico Territory............ 4,809,868 Q July 22, 1854.
Utah Territory...................... 3,003 613 September 9, 1850.
Dakota Territory................... 5,366,451 March 2, 1861.
Montana Territory................. 5,112,035 February 28, 1861.
Arizona Territory.................. 4,050,347 May 26, 1864.
Idaho Territory............... * * * * * 3,068,231 March 3, 1863.
Wyoming Territory............... 3,480,281 July 25, 1868.
Total.............................. 67,893,919
No grants to Indian and Alaska Territories.
Sixteenth and Thirty-sixth sections in Territories not granted,
but reserved.
. Lands in place and idemnity for deficiencies in sections and town-
ships, under acts of May 20, 1826, and February 26, 1859, included in the
above Statement.
— 36 —
-
II.
GRANTS AND RESERVATIONS FOR UNIVERSITIES.
States and Territories.
Total Area.
|Under What Acts.
d * A CreS.
Ohio........... º e e s is º f tº a g g º ºs tº e º is 69,120 April 21, 1792; March 3, 1803.
Indiana........................ 46,080 || March 26, 1804; April 19, 1816.
Illinois......................... 46,080 March 26, 1804; April 18, 1818.
Missouri.......... ............ 46,080 | February 17, 1818; March 6, 1820.
Alabama.......... ............ 46,080 April 20, 1818; March 2, 1819.
Mississippi.................... 46,080 March 3, 1803; º 20, 1819.
* * * * 6 April 21, 1806; March 3, 1811;
Louisiana..................... 46,080 } March 3, 1827, *
Michigan...................... 46,080 June 23, 1836.
Arkansas...................... 46,080 June 23, 1836.
Florida....................... . 92,160 March 3, 1845.
Iowa............................. 46,080 March 3, 1845. *
Wisconsin..................... 92,160 August 6, 1846; December 15, 1854.
California.................... 46,080 Mºjº § Feb 26, 1857
• z arCIl 23, ; February 26, 1857; .
Minnesota..................... 82,640 }} uly 8, 1870. -
Oregon............... ......... 46,080 | February 14, 1859; March 2, 1861.
Kansas.......... ............... 46,080 January 29, 1861.
Nevada........................ 46,080 July 4, 1866,
Nebraska...................... 46,080 | April 19, 1864.
Colorado....................... 46,080 March 3, 1875.
Washington Territory... 46,080 July 17, 1854; March 14, 1864.
New Mexico Territory... 46,080 July 22, 1854.
Utah Territory.............. 46,080 | February 21, 1855.
Total........ ............. 1,165,520
Lands in Territories not granted, but reserved.
III.
STATES HAVING LAND SUBJECT TO SELECTION “IN PLACE,”
UNDER ACT OF JULY 2, 1862, AND ACTS AMENDATORY
THEREOF.
A CreS. .
Wisconsin...... ................... ................................................ 240,000
Iowa.................................................................................. 240,000
Oregon.............................................…. 90,000
Kansas........................ ....................................................” 90,000.
Minnesota....................................... 2 e s , , s = e s e e s e < * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 120,000
Michigan............................................................ -------------- 240,000
California............... ............................................... ----- ...... 150,000
Nevada (also under act of July 4, 1866)................................. 90,000
Missouri...........................................----------------------------. 3 s a " 330,000
Nebraska (also under act of July 23, 1866)........................... 90,000
Colorado................................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 90,000
Total ................................................................. “ 1,770,000
— 37 —
STATES TO WHICH SCRIP WAS ISSUED, AND AMOUNT.
Rhode Island............ ................................. • * * * e s e e s e s e s e e e s = e s e o e - 120,000
Illinois..................... * - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - '• - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 480,000
*entucky................................ ................. ........... ............ 330,000
Vermont......….................... ............................................ 150,000
New York. ....................................................................... 990,000
Pennsylvania..................................................................... 780,000
New Jersey.….......….................................. 210,000
WeW Hampshire...... ............................................... ........... 150,000
Connecticut................................................. … tº º 180,000
Massachusetts......................................... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 360,000
Maine......................................... ..... • ‘º e º º ſº tº g º º is tº e º gº tº tº e º is e º g º ºs º ºs e º e º e e 210,000
*aryland........................................................................... 210,000
Virginia.….......................................................... ..........…. 300,000
Tennessee................................…....... ...................... : © tº e º 'º e g 300,000
Pelaware.......... .............. . .................................* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 90,000
Ohiº.….…...........…................................ 630,000
West Virginia........... • * * * e º e º sº as e º e g º e s a e s m e º a • * * * * * e º sº e º dº e e º ºs e º e º e º 'º e º e º e s a 150,000
!ndiana........... . .................. …......................................... 390,000
Worth Carolina................................................................... 270,000
Pouisiana..............................…........................................ 210,000
Alabama............ 3 * * * * * * * * * - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * • * 240,000
Arkansas................. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * . * * * * * > e º 'º º sº e º e º 'º º e º 'º º is tº e º º ºs & e º ºs e º us tº - 150,000
South Carolina............... ..................... ............................. 180,000
Texas........................ , º e s s is e º a * ºr e º 'º gº tº gº e s we e a r < * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * g e e º a 180,000
Georgia...... * e º e º tº s tº e º ſº gº e º se e s tº * * * * * * * * * * * * * g e º is se e º e e º 'º e º is a e º & e º º ºs º º º º * * * * - ſº a tº e º e º 'º & 270,000
Mississippi........................ * e º ºs e º e º e g tº dº e º e E & º º 'º e º e º 'º - e º e º e s tº dº º tº e º te e º 'º $ tº e º 'º' ... 210,000
Florida...................'• • - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 90,000
Total................................. • e º e & e º e º a e s e tº e º 'º e º s tº º 'º e º 'º we e s us e º sº e º e º s º is a e º 'º e 7,830,000
Total in place and scrip....................................................... 9,600,000
IV.
The foregoing tables are copied from “The Public Domain,”
compiled by Thomas Donaldson and printed at the Government
Printing Office, 1884, Chapter XIII. The following addenda
are found on page 1250 of the same volume.
LAND GRANTS AND RESERVATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES.
- TO JUNE 30, 1883.
Acres.
For public or common Schools............................................. 67,893,919
For agricultural and mechanical colleges................... • * * * * * * * * 9,600,000
For Seminaries or universities, to June 30........................... 1,165,520
Add grants for university purposes to the Territories of
Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Idaho and Wyoming............. 230,400
In all, a grand total to June 30, 1883........................... 78,889,839
The value at the minimum price of $1.25 per acre, in round num-
bers, being $99,000,000; but it may be safely estimated that these educa-
— 38 —
tional grant lands have realized to the States more than $250,000,000.
University grants to Dakota, Arizona, Idaho and Wyoming Terri-
tories. -
(See pages 226, 227 and 228.)
Two townships of 23,040 acres each, six miles square, or 46,080 acres,
were reserved by the act of February 18, 1881, for a university in each of
the Territories above named. At $2.50 per acre this endowment is equal
to $115,200. All existing Territories and political divisions, save the
District of Columbia, Indian Territory, and Alaska, now have univer-
sity grantS.
V
The foregoing exhibit of what the National Government has
done for education in the States is not complete. Mention may
be made of the saline lands, the swamp lands, and the 500,000
acres per State which have been given to the public-land States;
the 2, 3, or 5 percentum of the proceeds on all public lands sold
within their limits granted to the States since 1803; and the
United States Deposit Fund of 1837,-that many of the States
have devoted in whole or in part to education. Besides, there
have been many special educational grants that cannot here be
even enumerated. (On these topics see Donaldson, “The Pub-
lic Domain,” Chapters XI, XII, XV, XVIII, XIX.; Blackmar,
“Federal and State Aid for Higher Education ; Bourne,
“History of the Surplus Revenue of 1837. ”) -
Provision has also been made for agricultural colleges in the
new States of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washing-
ton, Wyoming, and Idaho upon the usual scale—90,000 acres to
each State save to South Dakota, to which 120,000 acres has
been given. They have also received, in lieu of the saline
lands, swamp lands, and 500,000-acre grants for internal im-
provements, specific grants for normal schools, scientific schools,
Or schools for mines, and also for public buildings.
VI.
As soon as, in running the lines of public Surveys, the
school sections in place 16 and 36, are fixed and determined,
the appropriation thereof for the educational object is, under
the law, complete, and lists are made out and patents issued to
the states thereof. -
When sections 16 and 36 are found to be covered with prior
adverse rights, such as legal occupancy, and settlement by indi-
viduals under settlement laws prior to survey of the lands or
deficient in area because of the fractional character of the
townships, or from other causes, selections for indemnity are
made.
An act of Congress approved March 3, 1803, in relation to
the appropriation of lands for school purposes made to Ohio,
provided that these lands should be vested in the legislature of
the State in trust for the use aforesaid, and for no other use,
intent, or purpose whatever. Congress thus made the State its
trustee, and so settled the question as to the management of the
school lands and their proceeds. This precedent has since been
uniformly followed.
In recent years Congress has guarded the school lands
against that wastefulness which sometimes marked their admin-
istration in former years. Section 11 of the act providing for
the admission into the Union of North Dakota, South Dakota,
Montana, and Washington, is as follows: $
That all lands herein granted for educational purposes
shall be disposed of only at public sale, and at a price not less
than $10 per acre, the proceeds to constitute a permanent
school-fund, the interest of which only shall be expended in the
support of said schools. But said lands may, under such regu-
lations as the legislatures shall prescribe, be leased for periods
of not more than 5 years, in quantities not exceeding One
section to any one person or company; and such lands shall not
be subject to pre-emption, homestead entry, or any other entry
under the land laws of the United States, whether surveyed or
unsurveyed, but shall be reserved for school purposes only.
VII.
The germ of the National Educational Land-Grant Policy is
found in certain “Propositions for Settling a New State by
Such Officers and Soldiers of the Federal Army as shall Associ-
ate for that Purpose,” drawn up by Colonel Timothy Pickering
in April, 1783. The origin of this policy is closely bound up
with the history of the Ordinance of 1787 and the organization
of the Northwest Territory. The subject may be studied in the
following authorities: Pickering, Life of Timothy Pickering, I,
Chaps. XXXII and XXXVI, and Apendix No. III; Cutler, Life
of Mannasseh Cutler, I Chaps. TV and VIII; Smith, The St.
Clair Papers, I 116–136, II, Appendices i and II; Blackmar,
Eederal and State Aid to Higher Education, Chap. II; The
Journals of the Continental Congress, IV (see index under
“Ordinances of Congress ''); Knight, Land Grants for Educa-
tion in the Northwest Territory, Part A.; Bancroft, History of
the Formation of the Constitution, Appendix, 302, and History
of the United States, WI; Report of the Commissioner of Edu-
cation, 1868, 65 et seqq : Poole, “Mannasseh Cutler and the
Ordinance of 1787,” North American Review, No. 122; Hinsdale,
The Old Northwest, Chaps. XI-XVI.
III.
MASSACHUSETTS DOCUMENTS,
I.
ORDINANCE OF 1642.
At a session of the General Court of the Colony of Massa-
chusetts Bay, in New England, commenced on the 14th day of
June, 1642, the Court, taking into consideration the great neg-
lect in many parents and masters, in training up their children
in learning, ordered and decreed: *
That in every town the chosen men appointed for managing
the prudential affairs of the same shall henceforth stand charged
with the care of the redress of this evil; and for this end they
shall have power to take account from time to time of their
parents and masters, and of their children, concerning their
calling and employinent of their children, especially of their
ability to read and understand the principles of religion and the
capital laws of the country, and to impose fines upon all those
who refuse to render such account to them when required; and
they shall have power to put forth apprentices the children of
such as they shall find not to be able and fit to employ and
bring them up.
II.
ORDINANCE OF 1647.
The following ordinance was adopted November 11, 1647:
It being one chiefe project of that ould deluder, Satan, to
keepe men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former
times by keeping them in an unknowne tongue, so in these lat-
ter times by pursuading from the use of tongues, that so at least
the true sence and meaning of the originall might be clouded
by false glosses of Saint-seeming deceivers, that learning may
not be buried in the grave of our fathers in the Church and
Commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavors:
It is therefore ordered that every township in this jurisdic-
tion, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of 50
householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their
towne to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write
and reade, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or
masters of such children, or by the inhabitants in generall, by
way of supply, as the major part of those that Order the pru-
dentials of the towne shall appoint; Provided, those that send
— 41 —
their children be not oppressed by paying much more than they
can have them taught in other townes;– s
And it is further ordered, that where any towne shall
increase to the number of 100 families or householders, they
shall set up a grammar schoole, the Master thereof being able
to instruct youth so farr as they may be fitted for the university;
provided, that if any towne neglect the performance thereof
above one yeare, every such towne shall pay 5s to the next
schoole till they shall perform this Order.
III.
The Constitution of Massachusetts, 1780.
Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused gener-
ally among the body of the people, being necessary for the
preservation of their rights and liberties, and as these depend on
spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the
various parts of the country, and among the different Orders of
the people, it shall be the duty of the legislatures and magis-
trates, in all future periods of the Commonwealth, to cherish
the interest of literature and the sciences and all seminaries of
them, especially the University of Cambridge, public schools,
and grammar schools in the towns; to encourage private Socie-
ties and public institutions, by rewards and immunities for the
promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades,
manufactures, and a natural history of the country; to counte-
nance and inculcate the principles of humanity, and general
benevolence, public and private, charity, industry, and frugality,
honesty and punctuality in all their dealings; sincerity, good
humor, and all social affections and generous sentiments among
the people.
IV.
John Adams, in 1809, gave the following history of the
above provision.—Works IV, 259:
In traveling from Boston to Philadelphia, in 1774, 5, 6 and
7, I had several times amused myself at Norwalk in Connecti-
cut, with the very curious collection of birds and insects of
American production made by Mr. Arnold; a collection which
he afterwards sold to Governor Tryon, who sold it to Sir Ashton
Tever, in whose apartments in London I afterwards viewed it
again. This collection was so singular a thing that it made a
deep impression upon me, and I could not but consider it a re-
proach to my country, that so little was known, even to her-
self, of her natural history.
When I was in Europe, in the years 1778 and 1779, in the
commission to the King of France, with Dr. Franklin and Mr.
Arthur Lee, I had opportunity to see the King's collection and
many others, which increased my wishes that nature might be
examined and studied in my own country, as it was in others.
— 42 —
In France among the Academicians, and other men of
Science and letters, I was frequently entertained with inquiries
concerning the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, and with
eulogiums on the wisdom of that institution, and with enco-
miums on some publications in their Transactions. These
conversations suggested to me the idea of such an establish-
ment at Boston, where I knew there was as much love of
science, and as many gentlemen who were capable of pursuing
it, as in any other city of its size.
In 1779 I returned to Boston in the French Frigate “La
Sensible’, with the Chevalier de la Luzerne and M. Marbois.
The Corporation of Harvard College gave a public dinner in
honor of the French Ambassador and his suite, and did me the
honor of an invitation to dine with them. At table in the
Philosophy Chamber I chanced to sit next to Dr. Cooper. I
entertained him during the whole of the time we were together
with an account of Arnold’s collections, the collections I had
seen in Europe, the compliments I had heard in France upon
the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, and concluded with
proposing that the future legislature of Massachusetts should
institute an Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The Doctor at first hesitated, thought it would be difficult to
find members who would attend to it; but his principal objection
was, that it would injure Harvard College by setting up a rival
to it, that might draw the attention and affections of the public
in some degree from it. To this I answered, first, that there
were certainly men of learning enough that might compose a
society sufficiently numerous; and secondly, that instead of
being a rival to the university, it would be an honor and
advantage to it. That the president and principal professors
would, no doubt, be always members of it; and the meetings
might be ordered, wholly or in part, at the college and in that
room. The Doctor at length appeared better satisfied; and I
entreated him to propagate the idea and the plan, as far and
as soon as his discretion would justify. The Doctor accordingly
did diffuse the project so judiciously and effectually, that the
first legislature under the new constitution adopted and estab-.
lished it by law. Afterwards when attending the convention
for forming the constitution, I mentioned the subject to several
of the members, and when I was appointed by the sub-commit-
tee to make a draught of a project of a constitution, to be laid
before the convention, my mind and heart were so full of this
subject, that I inserted the chapter fifth, section second. I was
somewhat apprehensive that criticism and objections would be
made to the section, and particularly that the “natural history”
and “good humor ’’ would be stricken out; but the whole was
received very kindly, and passed the convention unanimously,
without amendment.
— 43 —
V.
John Adams, writing in 1782 to the Abbé De Mabley, finds
the key to the history of New England in four institutions,
namely, the towns or districts, the congregations or religious
societies, the schools, and the militia. This is the paragraph in
which he describes the schools:
There are schools in every town, established by an express
law of the colony. Fvery town containing 60 families is
obliged, under a penalty, to maintain constantly a school and a
schoolmaster, who shall teach his scholars reading, writing,
arithmetic, and the rudiments of the Latin and Greek lan-
guages. All the children of the inhabitants, the rich as well as
the poor, have a right to go to these public schools. There are
formed the candidates for admission as students into colleges at
Cambridge, New Haven, Princeton, and Dartmouth. In these
colleges are educated future masters for these schools, future
ministers for these congregations, doctors of law and medicine,
and magistrates and officers for the government of the country.”
—Works of John Adams, W, Appendix.
VI.
President Dwight, of Yale College, writing in 1803, gives
this picture: -
A stranger traveling through New England marks with not
a little surprise the multitude of school houses appearing
everywhere at little distances. Familiarized as I am to the
sight, they have excited no small interest in my mind; particu-
larly as I was traveling through the settlements recently begun.
Here, while the inhabitants were still living in log huts, they
had not only erected school houses for their children, but had
built them in a neat style, so as to throw an additional appear-
ance of deformity over their own clumsy habitations. This
attachment to education in New England is universal; and the
situation of that hamlet must be bad indeed which, if it contains
a sufficient number of children for a school, does not provide the
necessary accommodations. In 1803 I found neat school houses
in Colebrook and Stewart bordering on the Canadian line.
IV.
MICHIGAN DOCUMENTS
g I.
ExTRACT FROM THE CONSTITUTION OF 1850.
_Z\_TER2TICT_TE TNZTIII_
EDUCATION.
SEC. I. The superintendent of public instruction shall have
the general supervision of public instruction, and his duties
shall be prescribed by law.
SEC. 2. The proceeds from the sales of all lands that have
been or hereafter may be granted by the United States to the
State for educational purposes, and the proceeds of all lands or
other property given by individuals or appropriated by the
State for like purposes, shall be and remain a perpetual fund, the
interest and income of which, together with the rents of all such
lands as may remain unsold, shall be inviolably appropriated
and annually applied to the specific objects of the original gift,
grant, or appropriation. -
SEC. 3. All lands, the titles of which shall fail from a defect
of heirs, shall escheat to the State; and the interest on the clear
proceeds from the sales thereof shall be appropriated exclus-
ively to the support of primary schools.
SEC. 4. The legislature shall, within 5 years from the
adoption of this Constitution, provide for and establish a system
of primary schools, whereby a school shall be kept, without
charge for tuition, at least 3 months in each year, in every
school district in the State, and all instruction in said schools
shall be conducted in the English language.
SEC. 5. A school shall be maintained in each school district
at least 3 months in each year. Any school district neglecting
to maintain such school shall be deprived, for the ensuing year,
of its proportion of the income of the primary-school fund, and
of all funds arising from taxes for the support of schools.
SEC. 6. There shall be elected in the year 1863, at the
time of the election of a justice of the supreme court, 8 regents
of the university, 2 of whom shall hold their office for 2 years,
2 for 4 years, 2 for 6 years, and 2 for 8 years. They shall enter
upon the duties of their office on the first of January next suc-
ceeding their election. At every regular election of a justice
of the supreme court thereafter there shall be elected 2 regents,
— 45 —
whose term of office shall be 8 years. When a vacancy shall
occur in the office of regent, it shall be filled by appointment
of the governor. The regents thus elected shall constitute the
board of regents of the University of Michigan.
SEC. 7. The regents of the university, and their successors
in office, shall continue to constitute the body-corporate known
by the name and title of “The Regents of the University of
Michigan.”
SEC. 8. The regents of the university shall, at their first
annual meeting, or as soon thereafter as may be, elect a presi-
dent of the university, who shall be ex-officio a member of
their board, with the privilege of speaking but not of voting.
He shall preside at the meetings of the regents, and be the
principal executive officer of the university. The board of
regents shall have the general supervision of the university,
and the direction and control of all expenditures from the
university interest-fund.
SEC. 9. There shall be elected at the general election in the
year 1852, 3 members of a State board of education, one for 2
years, one for 4 years, and One for 6 years; and at each succeed-
ing biennial election there shall be elected one member of such
board who shall hold his office for 6 years. The superintend-
ent of public instruction shall be ex-officio a member and secre-
tary of such board. The board shall have the general super-
vision of the State Normal School, and, their duties shall be
prescribed by law. -
SEC. 10. Institutions for the benefit of those inhabitants
who are deaf, dumb, blind, or insane shall always be fostered and
supported.
SEC. 11. The legislature shall encourage the promotion of
intellectual, scientific, and agricultural improvement; and shall,
as soon as practicable, provide for the establishment of an agri-
cultural school. The legislature may appropriate the 22
sections of salt-spring lands now unappropriated, or the money
arrising from the sale of the same, where such lands have
been already sold, and any land which may hereafter be granted
or appropriated for such purpose, for the support and main-
tenance of such school, and may make the same a branch of the
university for instruction in agriculture and the natural sciences
connected therewith, and place the same under the supervision
of the regents of the university.
SEC. 12. The legislature shall also provide for the estab-
lishment of at least one librarian in each township; and all fines
assessed and collected in the several counties and townships
any breach of the penal laws shall be exclusively applied to the
support of such libraries.
Section 6, as given above, is a substitute for the original
section, and was adopted in 1862.
– 46 –
II.
THE ENDOWMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY.
Eactract from an Act of Congress, concerning a Seminary of Learn-
ing in the Territory of Michigan. Approved May 20, 1826.
That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby
authorized to set apart and reserve from sale, out of any of the
public lands within the Territory of Michigan, to which the
Indian title may be extinguished, and not otherwise appropri-
ated, a quantity of land, not exceeding two entire townships,
for the use and support of a university within the Territory
aforesaid, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever, to be
located in tracts of lands corresponding with any of the legal
divisions into which the public lands are authorized to be sur-
veyed, not less than one section; one of which said townships,
so set apart and reserved from sale, shall be in lieu of an entire
township of land, directed to be, located in said Territory for
the use of a Seminary of Learning therein, by an act of Con-
gress entitled “An act making provision for the disposal of the
public lands in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes,”
approved March 26, 1804.
Eactract from an act supplementary to an act entitled “An act to
establish the northern boundary of the State of Ohio, and to
provide for the admission of the State of Michigan into the
Union on certain conditions therein eacpressed.” Approved
June 23, 1836.
That the 72 sections of land set apart and reserved for the
use and support of a University, by an act of Congress ap-
proved on the 20th day of May, 1826, entitled, “An act concern-
ing a Seminary of Learning in the Territory of Michigan,” are
hereby granted and conveyed to the State, to be appropriated
solely to the use and support of said University, in such manner
as the Legislature may prescribe. -
BIBLIOGRAPHY,
As a rule, titles that have been given in the teact or foot-notes are
not repeated.
ADAMs, C. K.—Washington and the Higher Education, 1888.
ADAMS, HENRY.—The writings of Albert Gallatin, 1879.
& 4 “ —The Life of Albert Gallatin, 1879.
ADAMs, H. B.-Washington’s Plan for a National University, Johns
Hopkins University Studies, III, 93.
—Thomas Jefferson and the University of Virginia,
1888.
& 4 “ —The College of William and Mary, 1887.
Dr. Adams is also the editor of the series of monographs en-
titled, “Contributions to American Educational History'', published
by the Bureau of Education. The other titles are: History of
Education in North Carolina, C. L. Smith; History of Higher Edu-
cation in South Carolina, Colyer Merriwether; Education in Georgia,
C. E. Jones; History of Education in Florida, G. G. Bush; Higher
Education in Wisconsin, W. F. Allen and D. E. Spencer; History
of Education in Alabama, G. W. Clark; History of Federal and
State Aid to Higher Education, F. W. Blackmar. These mono-
grpahs rank among the most valuable contributions to educational
history in the United States. The series will ultimately contain a
monograph for each State.
ANGELL, J. B.-University of Michigan, Commemorative Oration
Delivered at the Semi-Centennial Celebration of
the Organization of the University, 1887.
COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION.—The Report for 1868. I. Education
a National interest.—Special Report
on the District of Columbia for 1869.
History of the Establishment of a
Permanent Seat for Government for
the United States.
EATON, JOHN.—What Has Been Done for Education by the Govern-
ment of the United States. Proceedings of the
National Educational Association, 1883.
EDUCATION IN OHIO.—Prepared by authority of the General As-
sembly, 1876.
ELIOT, CHARLEs W.—National University, Proceedings of the Na-
tional Educational Association, 1873.
GARFIELD, J. A.—The National Bureau of Education, and National
Aid to Education, Works I and II. *
44 46
– 48 —
EIENDERSON, T. C.—Thomas Jefferson and Public Education, 1890.
HINSDALE, B. A.—President Garfield and Education, 1881.
& 4 “ —Education in the State Constitutions. Educa-
tion, IX, 1889.
Hoyt, J. W. –Preliminary Report on an American University.
ºrding of the National Educational Association,
1870.
66 “ —An American University Second Report of the
National Committee. , Proceedings of the National
Educational Association, 1871.
& 4 “ —Report on Education. United States Commission
Paris Exposition, VI, 1873.
& 4 “ —A National University: Review of a Paper Read at
Elmira, N. Y., by Charles W. Eliot. Proceedings
of the National Educational Association, 1874.
PATTERSON, J. K.—National Endowment for Schools for Scientific
and Technical Training. Proceedings of the
National Educational Association, 1874.
SHEARMAN, F. W.-System of Public Instruction and Primary
School Law of Michigan, 1852.
TEN BROOK, A.—American State Universities and the University of
Michigan, 1875.
WARREN, CHARLEs—Answers to Inquiries About the United States
Bureau of Education, its Work and History.
Circular of Information Issued by the Bureau,
1883.
WHITE, A. D.—National and State Governments and Advanced
Education. American Journal of Social Science,
1874.
66 “ —A National University, Forum, 1889.
See also, Poole's Index to Periodical Literature, Indexes of
the Leading Reviews and Magazines, under “University,” and the
List of Authorities in Knight, Land Grants for Education, 173–175.

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