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Jared Sparks (May 10, 1789 – March 14, 1866) was an American historian, educator, and Unitarian minister. He served as
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
of
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...
from 1849 to 1853.


Biography

Born in
Willington, Connecticut Willington is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,566 at the 2020 census. The Willimantic River borders the town on the west. Willington is about 25 miles northeast of Hartford on Interstate 84, which also ...
, Sparks studied in the
common school A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretar ...
s, worked for a time at the carpenter's trade, and then became a schoolteacher. In 1809–1811, he attended the
Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...
, where he met John G. Palfrey, who became a lifelong friend. He graduated from Harvard College, (now Harvard University), with an A.B. in 1815, and an A.M. in 1818. While an undergraduate, Sparks was a member of the Hasty Pudding. In 1812, he served as a tutor to the children of a family in
Havre de Grace, Maryland Havre de Grace (), abbreviated HdG, is a city in Harford County, Maryland. It is situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay. It is named after the port city of Le Havre, France, which in full was once ''Le Havr ...
. A few years later he taught in a private school at
Lancaster, Massachusetts Lancaster is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, in the United States. Incorporated in 1653, Lancaster is the oldest town in Worcester County. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 8,441. History In 1643 Lancaster was first ...
during 1815–1817. Sparks also studied
theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...
and was college tutor in mathematics and
natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe. It was dominant before the development of modern science. From the ancien ...
at Harvard College in 1817–1819. In 1817–1818 he was acting editor of the ''
North American Review The ''North American Review'' (NAR) was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which it was inactive until revived at ...
''. He was the first pastor of the newly organized "First Independent Church of Baltimore", serving from 1819 to 1823. It occupied what became a landmark structure at West Franklin and North Charles streets. It later was known as the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore (Unitarian and Universalist) after a 1935 merger with the Second Universalist Church at Guilford Avenue and East Lanvale Street. At Sparks' ordination by Dr.
William Ellery Channing William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...
(1780-1842), of the
Federal Street Church The Federal Street Church (established 1729) was a congregational Unitarian church in Boston, Massachusetts. Organized in 1727, the originally Presbyterian congregation changed in 1786 to "Congregationalism", then adopted the liberal theology of i ...
in Boston, Massachusetts, Channing delivered his discourse on Unitarian Christianity. This later was known as "The Baltimore Sermon". It set out the tenets and some principles for the developing theology and philosophy of Unitarianism. By 1825, these principles led to the founding of the
American Unitarian Association The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...
. (In 1961 a merger between two groups resulted in the modern Unitarian Universalist Association of America.) During this period, Sparks founded the ''Unitarian Miscellany'' and ''Christian Monitor'' (1821), a monthly, and edited its first three volumes. He served as chaplain of the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from 1821 to 1823; and he contributed to the ''National Intelligencer'' and other periodicals. In 1823, his health failed and Sparks withdrew from the ministry. Removing to Boston, he bought and edited in 1824–1830 the ''North American Review'', contributing about 50 articles to it. He founded and edited in 1830, the ''American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge'', which was continued by others and long remained a popular annual. In 1825 Sparks was elected as a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
, and in 1827 as a member of the
American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...
. He later served two decades as the society's secretary for foreign correspondence, from 1846 to 1866. After extensive researches at home and in London and Paris in 1828–1829, he published ''The Writings of
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
'' (12 volumes, 1834–1837; redated 1842), his most important work. In 1839 he published separately his ''Life of George Washington'' (abridged, 2 volumes, 1842). The work was for the most part favorably received, but Sparks was severely criticized by Lord Mahon (in the sixth volume of his ''History of England'') and others for altering the text of some of Washington's writings. Sparks defended his methods in ''A Reply to the Strictures of Lord Mahon and Others'' (1852). The charges were not wholly justifiable, and later Lord Mahon (Stanhope) modified them. While continuing his studies abroad in 1840–1841, Sparks discovered in the French archives the red-line map that, in 1842 gained international prominence in connection with the dispute over the north-eastern U.S.-Canadian boundary. Conflict had resulted in the
Aroostook War The Aroostook War (sometimes called the Pork and Beans WarLe Duc, Thomas (1947). The Maine Frontier and the Northeastern Boundary Controversy. ''The American Historical Review'' Vol. 53, No. 1 (Oct., 1947), pp. 30–41), or the Madawaska War, wa ...
between the state of Maine in the United States and the Province of New Brunswick in Canada.


Professorship

Sparks was one of the American intellectuals who received French author and traveler
Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (; 29 July 180516 April 1859), colloquially known as Tocqueville (), was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher and historian. He is best known for his wo ...
during his 1831–1832 visit to the United States. Their extensive conversations and subsequent correspondence informed de Tocqueville's best-known work, ''
Democracy in America (; published in two volumes, the first in 1835 and the second in 1840) is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville. Its title literally translates to ''On Democracy in America'', but official English translations are usually simply entitl ...
''. In 1837, Sparks was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. In 1842 Sparks delivered 12 lectures on American history before the Lowell Institute in Boston. In 1838–1849 he was the first
McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History The McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History is a senior professorship at Harvard University. It was endowed by the will of wealthy merchant John McLean. The first McLean Professor was Jared Sparks who held the chair between 1838 and 1849; he ...
at Harvard, endowed by the will of wealthy merchant John McLean (1761-1823).books.google.com
/ref> His appointment to this position, says his biographer, was the first academic encouragement of American history, and of original historical research in the American field. He was appointed in 1849 as president of Harvard College, and moved into a home on campus now called Treadwell-Sparks House. In 1853 Sparks retired on account of failing health, and devoted the rest of his life to his private studies. For several years he was a member of the Massachusetts Commonwealth Board of Education.


Death

Jared Sparks died on March 14, 1866, in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
and was buried in
Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge and Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, west of Boston. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brah ...
. His valuable collection of manuscripts and papers went to Harvard University. His private library and his maps were bought by
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
. He was a pioneer in large-scale collecting of documentary material on American history. He rendered valuable services to historical scholarship in the United States.


Works

Other works by Sparks include: *
A sermon delivered at the ordination of the Rev. Jared Sparks, to the pastoral care of the First Independent Church in Baltimore
'. (1819) *''Memoirs of the Life and Travels of John Ledyard'' (1828); *''The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution'' (12 volumes, 1829–1830; redated 1854); *''Life of Gouverneur Morris, with Selections from his Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers'' (3 volumes, 1832); *''A Collection of the Familiar Letters and Miscellaneous Papers of
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...
'' (1833); *''The Works of Benjamin Franklin; with Notes and a Life of the Author'' (10 vols, 1836–1840; redated 1850), a work second in scope and importance to his Washington; *''Correspondence of the American Revolution; being Letters of Eminent Men to George Washington, from the Time of his taking Command of the Army to the End of his Presidency'' (4 volumes, 1853); He also edited the ''Library of American Biography'', in two series (10 and 15 volumes, respectively, 1834–1838, 1844–1847), - - to which he contributed articles on the lives of Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne,
Henry Vane the Younger Sir Henry Vane (baptised 26 March 161314 June 1662), often referred to as Harry Vane and Henry Vane the Younger to distinguish him from his father, Henry Vane the Elder, was an English politician, statesman, and colonial governor. He was bri ...
, Ethan Allen, spy, Gen. Benedict Arnold, explorer
Jacques Marquette Jacques Marquette S.J. (June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675), sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Sainte Marie, and later founded Saint Ign ...
, explorer
René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle René ('' born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name ( Renée being the femini ...
, Kazimierz Pulaski ("Count Pulaski"),
Jean Ribault Jean Ribault (also spelled ''Ribaut'') (1520 – October 12, 1565) was a French naval officer, navigator, and a colonizer of what would become the southeastern United States. He was a major figure in the French attempts to colonize Florida. A ...
, Gen. Charles Lee and John Ledyard, the last a reprint of his earlier work. In addition, he aided Henry D. Gilpin in preparing an edition of the ''Papers of
James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...
'' (1840), and brought out an American edition of William Smyth's ''Lectures on Modern History'' (2 volumes, 1841), which did much to stimulate historical study in the United States.


Memorials

Historian
Francis Parkman Francis Parkman Jr. (September 16, 1823 – November 8, 1893) was an American historian, best known as author of '' The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life'' and his monumental seven-volume '' France and England in North Am ...
dedicated his ''The Conspiracy of Pontiac'' (1851) to Sparks. Memorial plaques and historical displays with portraits of Channing, Sparks and others are shown in the historical exhibit area of the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore (Unitarian and Universalist). The congregation commemorates the annual anniversary of "The Baltimore Sermon" of May 5, 1819, on the first Sunday in May. Their "Union Sunday" features a sermon/homily/address by an invited speaker; it is attended by the ministers and members of the Unitarian churches in Maryland, along with other visiting ecumenical members of other local Christian churches, and interested lay people.


See also

* Bibliography of George Washington  (where many of Sparks' books are listed)


Notes


References

*


Further reading

* Herbert B. Adams, ''The Life and Writings of Jared Sparks'' (2 volumes, Boston, 1893). * Brantz Mayer, ''Memoir of Jared Sparks'' (1867), prepared for the Maryland Historical Society. * George E. Ellis, ''Memoir of Jared Sparks'' (1869), reprinted from the ''Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society'' for May 1868.


External links

* *
Jared Sparks Papers
– Houghton Library, Harvard University.
''Tocqueville in Cambridge''
segment from
C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
's ''
Alexis de Tocqueville Tour The ''Alexis de Tocqueville Tour'' was a series of programs produced by C-SPAN in 1997 and 1998 that followed the path taken by Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont through the United States during their 1831–32 visit. It explored many ...
'' - Features
Peter Gomes Peter John Gomes (May 22, 1942 – February 28, 2011) was an American preacher and theologian, the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard Divinity School and Pusey Minister at Harvard's Memorial Church of Harvard University, Memori ...
discussing Sparks and his meeting with Tocqueville.
Website for the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore
(Unitarian and Universalist), West Franklin Street and North Charles Street; Baltimore, Maryland 21201.
Oil portrait of Jared Sparks
by Francis Alexander at
University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall ori ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparks, Jared 1789 births 1866 deaths People from Willington, Connecticut American Unitarians Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Harvard College alumni 19th-century American historians Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Historians of the American Revolution Presidents of Harvard University Chaplains of the United States House of Representatives Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery Members of the American Antiquarian Society American male non-fiction writers 19th-century American male writers Hasty Pudding alumni Historians from Connecticut