Editing Brown University (section)

===Foundation and charter===
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| caption1 = Petitioner [[Ezra Stiles]] later became the [[List of presidents of Yale University|seventh president]] of [[Yale College]].
| image2 = William Ellery (H. B. Hall).jpg
| caption2 = Petitioner [[William Ellery]] signed the [[United States Declaration of Independence]] in 1776.
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In 1761, three residents of [[Newport, Rhode Island]], drafted a petition to the colony's [[Rhode Island General Assembly|General Assembly]]:<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Stiles |first=Ezra |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030935765 |title=Extracts From the Itineraries and Other Miscellanies of Ezra Stiles, D. D., Ll. D., 1755–1794: With a Selection From His Correspondence |date=1916 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |editor-last=Dexter |editor-first=Franklin Bowditch |location=[[New Haven, Connecticut]] |pages=25}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=That your Petitioners propose to open a literary institution or School for instructing young Gentlemen in the Languages, Mathematics, Geography & History, & such other branches of Knowledge as shall be desired. That for this End... it will be necessary... to erect a public Building or Buildings for the boarding of the youth & the Residence of the Professors.}}

The three petitioners were [[Ezra Stiles]], pastor of Newport's [[Clarke Street Meeting House|Second Congregational Church]] and future president of [[Yale University]]; [[William Ellery|William Ellery Jr.]], future [[Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence|signer]] of the [[United States Declaration of Independence]]; and [[Josias Lyndon]], future governor of the colony. Stiles and Ellery later served as co-authors of the college's charter two years later. The editor of Stiles's papers observes, "This draft of a petition connects itself with other evidence of Dr. Stiles's project for a Collegiate Institution in Rhode Island, before the charter of what became Brown University."<ref name=":8" /><ref>[[#Dexter|Dexter (1916)]], p. 25.</ref><ref name=":7" />

The [[Philadelphia]] Association of Baptist Churches was also interested in establishing a college in Rhode Island, which was home of [[First Baptist Church in America|the mother church of their denomination]]. At the time, the [[Baptists]] were unrepresented among the colonial colleges; the [[Congregationalism in the United States|Congregationalists]] had [[Harvard University]] and Yale University, the [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]] had the College of New Jersey, which later became [[Princeton University]], and the [[Church of England|Episcopalians]] had the [[College of William & Mary]] and King's College, which later became [[Columbia University]]. The local [[University of Pennsylvania]] in their native Philadelphia was founded by [[Benjamin Franklin]] without direct association with any particular denomination.<ref>[https://chaplain.upenn.edu/about-us/history History] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220727045959/https://chaplain.upenn.edu/about-us/history/ |date=July 27, 2022 }} Note, however, that three-fourths of the original trustees of the University of Pennsylvania were affiliated with the [[Church of England]] as was the first provost, William Smith, an Anglican priest. The second provost, John Ewing, was a Presbyterian minister, and a succession of five ordained Anglicans headed the university for all but fifteen years between 1802 and 1868, the last year that an ordained minister was the chief administrator.</ref> Isaac Backus, a historian of the New England Baptists and an inaugural trustee of Brown, wrote of the October 1762 resolution taken at Philadelphia:<ref name=":7" />

{{Blockquote|text=The Philadelphia Association obtained such an acquaintance with our affairs, as to bring them to an apprehension that it was practicable and expedient to erect a college in the Colony of Rhode-Island, under the chief direction of the Baptists; ... Mr. [[James Manning (minister)|James Manning]], who took his first degree in [[Princeton University|New-Jersey college]] in September, 1762, was esteemed a suitable leader in this important work.}}James Manning arrived at Newport in July 1763 and was introduced to Stiles, who agreed to write the charter for the college. Stiles' first draft was read to the General Assembly in August 1763, and rejected by Baptist members who worried that their denomination would be underrepresented in the College Board of Fellows. A revised charter written by Stiles and Ellery was adopted by the Rhode Island General Assembly on March 3, 1764, in [[East Greenwich, Rhode Island|East Greenwich]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana {{!}} Charter |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=C0350 |access-date=2021-04-10 |website=www.brown.edu |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411024736/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=C0350 |url-status=live}}</ref>
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| caption2 = The [[Ezra Stiles]] copy of Brown's 1764 charter
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In September 1764, the inaugural meeting of the corporation—the college's governing body—was held in Newport's [[Old Colony House]]. Governor [[Stephen Hopkins (politician)|Stephen Hopkins]] was chosen chancellor, former and future governor [[Samuel Ward (Rhode Island politician)|Samuel Ward]] vice chancellor, John Tillinghast treasurer, and Thomas Eyres secretary. The charter stipulated that the board of trustees should be composed of 22 Baptists, five [[Religious Society of Friends|Quakers]], five Episcopalians, and four Congregationalists. Of the 12 Fellows, eight should be Baptists—including the college president—"and the rest indifferently of any or all Denominations."<ref name=":7" />

At the time of its creation, Brown's charter was a uniquely progressive document.<ref>{{Cite book |title=International Dictionary of University Histories |date=1998 |others=Carol J. Summerfield, Mary Elizabeth Devine, Anthony Levi |isbn=978-1-134-26217-5 |location=Chicago |pages=56 |oclc=864899539}}</ref> Other colleges had curricular strictures against opposing doctrines, while Brown's charter asserted, "Sectarian differences of opinions, shall not make any Part of the Public and Classical Instruction." The document additionally "recognized more broadly and fundamentally than any other [university charter] the principle of denominational cooperation."<ref name=":7" /> The oft-repeated statement that Brown's charter alone prohibited a religious test for College membership is inaccurate; other college charters were similarly liberal in that particular.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Phillips |first=Janet M |url=https://www.brown.edu/web/documents/short-history-of-brown.pdf |title=Brown University:A Short History |date=1992 |publisher=Office of University Relations, Brown University |location=Providence, RI |language=English |oclc=30582651 |access-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-date=January 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109150423/https://www.brown.edu/web/documents/short-history-of-brown.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Brown University 1792 engraving.jpg|thumb|This 1792 engraving is the first published image of Brown. [[University Hall (Brown University)|University Hall]] stands on the right while the President's House sits on the left.]]
The college was founded as Rhode Island College, at the site of the First Baptist Church in [[Warren, Rhode Island]].<ref name="Beebe">{{cite news |last1=Beebe |first1=Elaine |date=21 July 2008 |title=The small-town birthplace of Brown University |publisher=Brown University |url=http://today.brown.edu/articles/2008/07/warren |access-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304223511/http://today.brown.edu/articles/2008/07/warren |url-status=live}}</ref> Manning was sworn in as the college's first president in 1765 and remained in the role until 1791. In 1766, the college authorized [[the Reverend]] [[Morgan Edwards]] to travel to Europe to "solicit Benefactions for this Institution".<ref name=":4" /> During his year-and-a-half stay in the [[British Isles naming dispute|British Isles]], Edwards secured funding from benefactors including [[Thomas Penn]] and [[Benjamin Franklin]].<ref name=":4" />

In 1770, the college moved from Warren to Providence. To establish a campus, [[John Brown (Rhode Island politician)|John]] and [[Moses Brown]] purchased a four-acre lot on the crest of [[College Hill, Providence, Rhode Island|College Hill]] on behalf of the school. The majority of the property fell within the bounds of the original home lot of [[Chad Brown (minister)|Chad Brown]], an ancestor of the Browns and one of the original proprietors of [[Providence Plantations]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guild |first=Reuben Aldridge |title=History of Brown University: With Illustrative Documents |date=1867 |publisher=Providence Press Company, printers |pages=233 |oclc=770834 |language=en}}</ref> After the college was relocated to the city, work began on constructing its first building.

A building committee, organized by the corporation, developed plans for the college's first purpose-built edifice, finalizing a design on February 9, 1770. The subsequent structure, referred to as "The College Edifice" and later as [[University Hall (Brown University)|University Hall]], may have been modeled on [[Nassau Hall]], built 14 years prior at the [[Princeton University|College of New Jersey]]. President Manning, an active member of the building process, was educated at Princeton and might have suggested that Brown's first building resemble that of his [[alma mater]].<ref name=":03">{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana {{!}} University Hall |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=U0040 |access-date=2021-01-07 |website=www.brown.edu |archive-date=January 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117204903/http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=U0040 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Brown family====
[[File:Nicholas Brown Jr by Chester Harding 1836.jpg|thumb|Following the gift of [[Nicholas Brown Jr.]] (Class of 1786), the university was renamed in his honor.]] 
[[Nicholas Brown Sr.|Nicholas Brown]], [[John Brown (Rhode Island politician)|John Brown]], [[Joseph Brown (astronomer)|Joseph Brown]], and [[Moses Brown]] were instrumental in moving the college to Providence, constructing its first building, and securing its endowment. Joseph became a professor of [[natural philosophy]] at the college; John served as its treasurer from 1775 to 1796; and Nicholas Sr's son [[Nicholas Brown Jr.]] succeeded his uncle as treasurer from 1796 to 1825.<ref>Szep, Jason. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-slavery-brown/brown-exhibit-traces-links-to-slave-trade-idUSN2831643920070329#:~:text=PROVIDENCE%2C%20Rhode%20Island%20(Reuters),were%20shot%20dead%20or%20drowned. Brown exhibit traces links to slave trade] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719022715/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-slavery-brown/brown-exhibit-traces-links-to-slave-trade-idUSN2831643920070329#:~:text=PROVIDENCE%2C%20Rhode%20Island%20(Reuters),were%20shot%20dead%20or%20drowned. |date=July 19, 2020 }} Reuters, March 29, 2007.</ref>

On September 8, 1803, the corporation voted, "That the donation of $5,000, if made to this College within one Year from the late Commencement, shall entitle the donor to name the College." The following year, the appeal was answered by College Treasurer Nicholas Brown Jr. In a letter dated September 6, 1804, Brown committed "a donation of Five Thousand Dollars to Rhode Island College, to remain in perpetuity as a fund for the establishment of a Professorship of Oratory and Belles Letters." In recognition of the gift, the corporation on the same day voted, "That this College be called and known in all future time by the Name of Brown University."<ref>{{Cite book |last=University |first=Brown |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6zl-AAAAIAAJ |title=Historical Catalogue of Brown University, 1764–1914 |date=1914 |publisher=The University |pages=11 |language=en |access-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-date=October 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028221008/https://books.google.com/books?id=6zl-AAAAIAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> Over the years, the benefactions of Nicholas Brown Jr., totaled nearly $160,000 and included funds for building Hope College (1821–22) and Manning Hall (1834–35).

In 1904, the [[John Carter Brown Library]] was established as an independently funded research library on Brown's campus; the library's collection was founded on that of [[John Carter Brown]], son of Nicholas Brown Jr.

The Brown family was involved in various business ventures in Rhode Island, and accrued wealth both directly and indirectly from the [[Transatlantic Slave Trade|transatlantic slave trade]]. The family was divided on the issue of slavery. John Brown had defended slavery, while Moses and Nicholas Brown Jr. were fervent [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionists]].

In 2003, under the tenure of President [[Ruth Simmons]], the university established a steering committee to investigate these ties of the university to slavery and recommend a strategy to address them.<ref>Howell, Ricardo (2001, July). "[https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Info/Slavery.html Slavery, the Brown Family of Providence and Brown University] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409001105/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Info/Slavery.html |date=2008-04-09}}", ''Brown University News Service''</ref>

==== American Revolution ====
With British vessels patrolling [[Narragansett Bay]] in the fall of 1776, the college library was moved out of Providence for safekeeping. During the subsequent [[American Revolutionary War]], Brown's [[University Hall (Brown University)|University Hall]] was used to house French and other revolutionary troops led by General [[George Washington]] and the [[Comte de Rochambeau]] as they waited to commence the [[Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route|march of 1781]] that led to the [[Siege of Yorktown]] and the [[Battle of the Chesapeake]]. This has been celebrated as marking the defeat of the British and the end of the war. The building functioned as barracks and hospital from December 10, 1776, to April 20, 1780, and as a hospital for French troops from June 26, 1780, to May 27, 1782.<ref name=":7" />

A number of Brown's founders and alumni played roles in the American Revolution and subsequent founding of the United States. Brown's first chancellor, Stephen Hopkins, served as a delegate to the [[Albany Congress|Colonial Congress in Albany]] in 1754, and to the [[Continental Congress]] from 1774 to 1776. James Manning represented Rhode Island at the [[Congress of the Confederation]], while concurrently serving as Brown's first president.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana {{!}} Manning, James |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=M0100 |access-date=2021-04-10 |website=www.brown.edu |archive-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410070356/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=M0100 |url-status=live}}</ref> Two of Brown's founders, William Ellery and Stephen Hopkins signed the [[Declaration of independence|Declaration of Independence]].

[[James Mitchell Varnum]], who graduated from Brown with honors in 1769, served as one of General George Washington's [[Continental Army]] [[brigadier general]]s and later as [[major general]] in command of the entire [[Rhode Island militia]]. Varnum is noted as the founder and commander of the [[1st Rhode Island Regiment]], widely regarded as the first Black battalion in U.S. military history.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Farrell |title=America's First Black Regiment Gained Their Freedom by Fighting Against the British |url=https://www.history.com/news/first-black-regiment-american-revolution-first-rhode-island |access-date=2021-04-05 |website=HISTORY |date=February 3, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410070356/https://www.history.com/news/first-black-regiment-american-revolution-first-rhode-island |url-status=live}}</ref> [[David Howell (jurist)|David Howell]], who graduated with an A.M. in 1769, served as a delegate to the [[Continental Congress]] from 1782 to 1785.