| The history of 18th-century Harvard College is the story of the expansion of a colonial academic institution and the redefinition of its underlying philosophical principles.;The first part, on governance, explains the development of Harvard's three-part governing system between 1707 and 1780. In the late 17th century, Harvard was governed under several temporary charters by some combination of the Corporation and the Board of Overseers. In 1707, the 1650 charter was revived, but the division and the articulation of the governing functions were not made clear; instead these were left up to the constituted boards to work out over time. Between 1725 and 1780, the governing boards, which now included the Faculty, established their respective spheres of governmental authority, but conflicts arose where the functions overlapped, and accommodations eventually had to be worked out. A further complication--Harvard's charter was a grant from the Massachusetts General Court, and the legislature claimed some role in the College governing system. Though this outside factor interfered only a few times during the century, the relationship between Harvard and the provincial government was often problematic.;The second part deals with the expansion of the curriculum between 1684 and 1784. Each of the five chapters examines an aspect of the awakening of Harvard's leaders and students to the new ideas and methods that were being developed in Europe throughout the century. Chapter four explains why Harvard had increasing contact with England and how Harvard came to acquire the foundations of an active intellectual center. Chapter five examines the change in the formal teaching methods which marked the slow transition from the use of the tutorial method to that of the professorial method. Chapter six explains the students' development of their own informal modes of instruction, methods that forced the formal curriculum to expand beyond its traditional boundaries. Finally, chapters seven and eight examine the individual subjects taught during the 18th century, revealing the tension at Harvard between the new influences from abroad and the philosophical legacy of 17th-century New England Puritanism. |
