The institution now known as the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
was founded as a secondary school in 1740 and by the time of the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
had grown to include a college and medical school called the
College of Philadelphia
The Academy and College of Philadelphia (1749-1791) was a boys' school and men's college in Philadelphia, Colony of Pennsylvania.
Founded in 1749 by a group of local notables that included Benjamin Franklin, the Academy of Philadelphia began as a ...
. While it operated under a state charter, it was a private institution with its own board of trustees. Many were
Loyalists
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...
, and when the revolutionary government of Pennsylvania regained control of the city of Philadelphia after the
British occupation of 1777-8, it rechartered the institution as the "University of the State of Pennsylvania," appointed new trustees, and dismissed
Provost William Smith. Following repeated lawsuits by Smith and the original trustees, the state restored the college's charter in 1789, but the university continued to operate on the original campus. The two competing institutions merged in 1791, forming the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
.
References
Penn in the 18th Century- at
Penn's archives
at ''"The University of Pennsylvania"'' by Francis N. Thorpe
University of Pennsylvania, State of Pennsylvania
Defunct universities and colleges in Philadelphia
1779 establishments in Pennsylvania
Educational institutions established in 1779
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