Royal Charter - United States

United States

Although several American universities which predate the American Revolution purport to hold royal charters, in a number of cases they were in fact created by a grant from a local authority such as a colonial legislature.

Colleges created by royal charter from King William III and Queen Mary II of England:

  • The College of William & Mary 1693 - (created by Letters Patent)

Colleges created by King George II of Great Britain:

  • Columbia University 1754 as King's College - (probably created by Letters Patent)

American colleges popularly believed to have been established by Royal Charter, but actually by some other type of grant:

  • Harvard College 1639 - By Act of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
  • Yale University 1701 - as Collegiate School by Act of the General Assembly of Connecticut
  • Princeton University 1746 - as College of New Jersey by the General Assembly of the Province of New Jersey
  • Brown University 1764 - as College of Rhode Island by Letters Patent from The Governor and General Assembly of the English Colony of Rhode Island
  • Rutgers University 1766 - as Queen's College by Governor William Franklin of New Jersey
  • Dartmouth College 1769 - by Letters Patent by King George III via the Governor of the province of New Hampshire. The distinction between the Letters Patent forming Dartmouth versus those documents founding William & Mary or Kings College (Columbia) is that the seal of the Province of New Hampshire appears on the Dartmouth document, while the Great Seal of the Realm appears on the William & Mary and King's documents.

Read more about this topic:  Royal Charter

Famous quotes related to united states:

    “What chiefly distinguishes the daily press of the United States from the press of all other countries is not its lack of truthfulness or even its lack of dignity and honor, for these deficiencies are common to the newspapers everywhere, but its incurable fear of ideas, its constant effort to evade the discussion of fundamentals by translating all issues into a few elemental fears, its incessant reduction of all reflection to mere emotion. It is, in the true sense, never well-informed.”
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)

    “I thought it altogether proper that I should take a brief furlough from official duties at Washington to mingle with you here to-day as a comrade, because every President of the United States must realize that the strength of the Government, its defence in war, the army that is to muster under its banner when our Nation is assailed, is to be found here in the masses of our people.”
    —Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)

    “Why doesn’t the United States take over the monarchy and unite with England? England does have important assets. Naturally the longer you wait, the more they will dwindle. At least you could use it for a summer resort instead of Maine.”
    —W.H. (Wystan Hugh)

    “In the United States adherence to the values of the masculine mystique makes intimate, self-revealing, deep friendships between men unusual.”
    —Myriam Miedzian, U.S. author. Boys Will Be Boys, introduction (1991)