The Parnassus Articles

The American Revolution brought with it years of hardship for higher education in the new nation. Almost from the outset of hostilities the small colonial colleges suffered in one form or another from the conflict. At Harvard College, dormitories were converted into barracks during Washington's seige of Boston. Princeton's Nassau Hall was damaged in a notable skirmish, and the building was later used as a hospital for the Continental Army. In Virginia, a handsome Christopher Wren building at William and Mary was partially destroyed by accidental fire. Beside such physical damages, collegiate institutions also were beleaguered by interrupted school terms, departures of students and faculty, food shortages, and the steady inflationary price spiral caused by the war. When the peace settlement finally approached in 1782 and 1783, most of these institutions found themselves in tenuous circumstances.