Education has long been a fundamental aspect of progressing civilizations. The United States was no different and established private colleges soon after Europeans first immigrated to the area. In 1789, the General Assembly of North Carolina, seeing a need for higher education in the state, chartered the University of North Carolina, the nation’s first public institution of higher learning. Timothy J. Williams’ book Intellectual Manhood: University, Self, and Society in the Antebellum South describes the university and its students from the years 1795 to 1861. Using this book, it is possible to gain a deeper understanding as to the meaning of the state’s charter and how well the students carried it out. The state sought to educate young men
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Because of the lack of women permanently on campus, the young men had little luck in finding a suitable spouse since “a man was ‘morally bound to marry’” (Williams p.184). Despite this, they did manage to find some female company to keep them happy in Chapel Hill. Sometimes this was through events in the town, young women visiting campus, or through prostitution (Williams p.153, 163). These young men were not only separated from most women, they were also mostly separated from the world and its accompanying responsibilities. Williams makes no mention of North Carolina students working during college to fund their education, but he does record multiple accounts of supplication to folks back home for funds for various purposes (Williams p.25, 26). This reliance on relatives demonstrates the financial ease that students could feel at college if there were others who could afford to support them. Whether or not the young men were satisfied by the proximity of females or not and the lack of responsibility, they did seem to find joy in literary societies. The members were able to encourage and challenge one another to strive to achieve values associated with intellectual manhood. This was able to give young men happiness in their education because “societies fulfilled young men socially, morally, and intellectually” (Williams …show more content…
In the words of university president David Swain, “’The object of an education is to write and to speak’” (Williams p.47). These types of skills were crucial to most learned professions of the day and this type of training was scene in every disciple taught. All of the subjects were taught in a recitation style setting that required students to memorize material and recite it to the class when the instructor told them to (Williams p.51, 52). This incited discipline in science, moral reasoning, humanities, and ancient languages. The study of ancient languages was a pillar of education because it taught students expected moral values and gave them a desire to emulate the grand achievements of the ancient texts in government as well as other areas (Williams p.57-59). The desire to maximize the effectiveness of the political system would have been particularly beneficial to the state after previous years of relative instability and disagreement regarding the ratification of the
Because of the lack of women permanently on campus, the young men had little luck in finding a suitable spouse since “a man was ‘morally bound to marry’” (Williams p.184). Despite this, they did manage to find some female company to keep them happy in Chapel Hill. Sometimes this was through events in the town, young women visiting campus, or through prostitution (Williams p.153, 163). These young men were not only separated from most women, they were also mostly separated from the world and its accompanying responsibilities. Williams makes no mention of North Carolina students working during college to fund their education, but he does record multiple accounts of supplication to folks back home for funds for various purposes (Williams p.25, 26). This reliance on relatives demonstrates the financial ease that students could feel at college if there were others who could afford to support them. Whether or not the young men were satisfied by the proximity of females or not and the lack of responsibility, they did seem to find joy in literary societies. The members were able to encourage and challenge one another to strive to achieve values associated with intellectual manhood. This was able to give young men happiness in their education because “societies fulfilled young men socially, morally, and intellectually” (Williams …show more content…
In the words of university president David Swain, “’The object of an education is to write and to speak’” (Williams p.47). These types of skills were crucial to most learned professions of the day and this type of training was scene in every disciple taught. All of the subjects were taught in a recitation style setting that required students to memorize material and recite it to the class when the instructor told them to (Williams p.51, 52). This incited discipline in science, moral reasoning, humanities, and ancient languages. The study of ancient languages was a pillar of education because it taught students expected moral values and gave them a desire to emulate the grand achievements of the ancient texts in government as well as other areas (Williams p.57-59). The desire to maximize the effectiveness of the political system would have been particularly beneficial to the state after previous years of relative instability and disagreement regarding the ratification of the