James G. Birney - Schooling

Schooling

When Birney turned eleven he was sent to Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, returning home two years later to enter a school run by a Presbyterian man that had just opened in Dansville. He excelled in his studies there, which were mostly based in the sciences. In 1808, he entered the College of New Jersey at age seventeen, which was the name of Princeton University at that time. He studied political philosophy, logic and moral philosophy, and became known as a proficient debater. Among his classmates, he became particularly good friends with George M. Dallas. He studied under the president of the school (Samuel Stanhope Smith), who was both a logician and author that held weak anti-slavery sentiments. He believed that slavery was morally wrong, but upheld the citizens' right of ownership. Birney graduated from Princeton on September 26, 1810.

When he returned to Danville following graduation, he worked for the campaign of Henry Clay for one month. After this, he began to study law at the office of Alexander J. Dallas in Philadelphia, the father of his Princeton friend and classmate. He lived among well means, having a horse carriage for transportation and always being well-dressed. He also made friends with members of the local Quaker community. He remained in Philadelphia with Dallas for the next three years, until he passed the Philadelphia bar examination and was admitted to the bar association.