Schools for statesmen : the divergent educations of the constitution's framers / Andrew H. Browning.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Browning, Andrew H., author.

Contributor:

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education--United States--History--18th century.

Education.

Education--History--18th century.

Statesmen--Education--United States--History--18th century.

Statesmen.

Universities and colleges--United States--History--18th century.

Universities and colleges.

Universities and colleges--History--18th century.

Founding Fathers of the United States--Education.

Founding Fathers of the United States.

United States. Constitution.

United States.

Constitution (United States).

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 353 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, [2022]

Summary:

"One of the Framers, William Livingston, claimed that "whatever Principles are imbibed at College will run thro' a Man's whole future Conduct." And another Framer, Thomas Mifflin, wrote this in a college notebook: "Different Abilities & different Means of Education will always occasion differences of opinion even in good men." These statements form the essential thesis of Schools for Statesmen: that understanding the Framers' differences in education provides new insight into their differences at the 1787 Convention. In particular, those different educations help explain Framers' willingness or reluctance to accept structural innovations proposed by James Madison and his allies, and they shed new light on the hard-to-explain vote that adopted the Great Compromise on representation in congress. Schools for Statesmen explores the 55 individual Framers in close detail and argues that their different educations help explain their divergent positions at the 1787 Convention. The more traditional schools that focused on Greek and Latin classics (Oxford, Harvard, Yale, William and Mary) were conservative institutions resistant to change. The Scottish and newer schools (Princeton, Philadelphia, King's College) introduced students to a Scottish Enlightenment curriculum that fostered more radical, forward-thinking leaders. Half of the Framers had no college education and were largely self-taught or had private tutors; they usually stayed quiet at the Convention. Of the dozen who consistently led at the Convention, half of them had been educated at the newer colleges. Of the seven who rejected the new Constitution, three had gone to the older, traditional schools, while three others had not gone to college at all. Schools for Statesmen takes a deep dive into the educational world of the late 18th century and sheds new light on the origins of the US Constitution"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: PART I

1. The Framers

2. Educating Demigods

PART II

3. The Self-Taught and the Tutored

4. Writing Schools and Grammar Schools

5. The Schools of the Prophets: Harvard and Yale

6. Their Majesties' College in Williamsburg: William and Mary

7. The Old World's Old Schools: England, France, and Ireland

8. The Inns of Court and Legal Apprenticeship

PART III

9. The New Old World: The Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh

10. Presbyterian Schools and Scottish Schoolmasters

11. Mirania in America: The College of Philadelphia and King's College

12. Princeton in the Nation's Service: The College of New Jersey

13. At the Convention: "To Form a More Perfect Union".

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

ISBN:

9780700633098

070063309X

OCLC:

1290245927