Phi Beta Kappa Addresses during the pre-Civil War in Union College.
Union College is in Schenectady, New York. A number of them were religious figures and those were conservative. Yet, Union College was in politicians' addresses -- and The ex-Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York was addressing at Union College in 1823. Clinton was a key figure in the Erie Canal. And he talked about technology and morality, and said “unlimited in space, and infinite in duration." Optimistic, very optimistic.
Gulian C. Verplanck, a former United States Congresses for New York, wrote about The Advantages and Dangers of the American Scholar before Union College in 1836. Verplanck wrote about the advantages—and dangers–of the American Scholar. William Kent (James Kent was his father), told Union College students in 1841, that there would be “no essential change in the institutions, whose operations come home to the business and bosoms of men, from the ultraism of Democracy on the one hand, or from a reaction on the other of a spirit adverse to republican equality."
Charles Sumner, a lawyer and abolitionist from Boston (and future United States Senator from Massachusetts), spoke at Union College in 1848 on The Law of Human Progress. William H. Seward spoke about The Elements of Empire in America. Seward was a United States Senator, for New York. And, he was a Lincoln's cabinet.
The Jurisprudence of Antebellum Phi Beta Kappa Addresses is available at ssrn.com.
As someone who grew up with a “Schenectady, NY” mailing address, I am scratching my head about where you got “Shecknety” from!
Posted by: Jeremy | January 22, 2025 at 07:28 PM
The whole post is sort of stilted, e.g., "Yet, Union College was in politicians' addresses ..."?
Posted by: anon | January 23, 2025 at 12:46 PM