Ezra Stiles of Yale

W HEN, on September 11, 1777, Ezra Stiles was elected president of Yale College, great events were impending. While the corporation was balloting on his name the armies of Washington and Howe were manceuvring for position on the banks of the Brandywine and that afternoon they were in desperate combat at the fords of that historic stream. A fortnight later the British and German columns flooded the Philadelphia streets and the Congress was gathering its members and its archives at Lancaster. Within a month, however, there came another story from the North. Burgoyne's surrender on October 17 started a wave of optimism through the country and opened the eyes of Europe to the possibility that these revolting American colonies might succeed in achieving their independence. In another month the Congress had adopted the Articles of Confederation and submitted them to the states for approval. The Reverend Dr. Stiles took six months to consider the

Art · American Constitutional Law and Politics

• The Second Great Awakening and the New England Social Order

  Open Access•Richard D Birdsall•Church History•1970

  Add to list